Ferdinand Alquié

> De Waelhens Alphonse. Ferdinand Alquié, La nostalgie de l'être.
In: Revue Philosophique de Louvain. Troisième série, tome 48, n°20, 1950. pp. 576-580. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/phlou_0035-3841_1950_num_48_20_7887_t1_0576_0000_2… (mais)

> Chevallier Marjolaine. Ferdinand Alquié, Le désir d'éternité, 1983.
In: Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses, 64e année n°4, Octobre-décembre 1984. p. 422. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rhpr_0035-2403_1984_num_64_4_4791_t1_0422_0000_2

> De Waelhens Alphonse. Ferdinand Alquié, Le désir d'éternité.
In: Revue Philosophique de Louvain. Troisième série, tome 44, n°2, 1946. pp. 323-326. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/phlou_0035-3841_1946_num_44_2_4060_t1_0323_0000_3… (mais)

> De Waelhens Alphonse. Ferdinand Alquié, La découverte métaphysique de l'homme chez Descartes.
In: Revue Philosophique de Louvain. Troisième série, tome 48, n°20, 1950. pp. 576-580. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/phlou_0035-3841_1950_num_48_20_7887_t1_0576_0000_2… (mais)

As a rational person, Surrealism intrigues me, as it resists ordinary attempts at analysis or traditional interpretation (or these can result in its dismissal as nonsense). My first few encounters with surrealism left me rather nonplussed. However, my interest in it developed as it became clear that it would be a challenge to begin to comprehend it, and as I became convinced that it was not just a rag bag of weird and incoherent artistic expressions without at least some underlying logic.
One thing that has helped me to get a better grasp of what is going on in surrealism is my further reading of Freud and about the unconsious. One does not have to accept all of Freud to understand the influence and importance of his discoveries on the unconscious. The role of these ideas is really central to understanding Surrealism. Ferdinand Alquie attempts in this book to probe further than this into the philosophy (or philosophies) behind Surrealism, and ties in a few different areas of thought that he claims have influenced the development of Surrealism and the world views of its founders and participants.
One thing that is clear though is that there is not a single consistent philosophy of surrealism. This is in part becasue there was no unified movement and that there were artistic and philosophical disagreements by certain surrealist factions (as there usually will be when a movement grows organically). As well as this there were differences between iterations of the surrealist manifesto.
This book does however examine the common strands that were central to Surrealism, and touches on several main areas. One of the most important concepts behind surrealism, according to Alquie, is that of Revolution, and Revolt. This is linked to the ideas of Marx that were around at the time, which influence Andre Breton (one of Surrealism's main proponents), and others. What is certain is that the Surrealists did not believe in the traditional order of things, and wanted change. Depending on which Surrealist is in question, their idealistic reasons for this are different. For some, this want of revolution was born of hope for better things (the optimistic humanist branch which Alquie supports), for others it came from nihilism (the Hegelian, antihumanist train of thought).
Other sections cover the interpretation and expectation of signs, love, and imagination.
This book brings out some of the depths of Surrealism and does an admirable job of its interpretation. While there is not a coherent underlying philosophy that supports the whole of Surrealism, it is evident that many of its followers did have common philosophical beliefs that influenced their works. This is a great read for anyone interested in Surrealism, though it does require careful reading in places and bit of mental effort.… (mais)