Enthoven raphael biography books

Voici, mes amis, an exquisitely French familial drama that goes down like a nice glass of Bordeaux, or the post-coital cigarette you drag on lethargically while your partner dresses to go home to his wife and children. Smooth. Rich. Complex. Magnifique.

On Wednesday, the Guardian detailed the recent schism between famed French philosopher and former boyfriend to model Carla Bruni, Jean-Paul Enthoven, 71, and his son, famed French philosopher and former boyfriend to model Carla Bruni, Raphaël Enthoven, 44.

The Enthovens’ clash had nothing to do with Bruni, though, whom Jean-Paul had briefly dated before Raphaël fathered a child with her in 2001. (After she and Raphaël separated in 2007, Bruni would go on to marry French president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008.) Rather, it was about Raphaël’s latest autobiographical novel, Le Temps gagné (Time Saved), in which he describes in less-than-flattering terms a number of prominent and recognizable French personalities, including Justine Lévy, his ex-wife whom he left for Bruni; her father, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy; and of course, his father, Jean-Paul.

“I don’t like people’s private lives to be unpacked like this in public,” Jean-Paul told the French outlet Le Figaro on Tuesday. “Why should I and my loved ones be subjected to this treatment based on prying eyes and denigration. Does someone have the right to tear off the masks that each of us may have needed during our lives without our consent and for their own pleasure.”

He added: “As Camus, who my son is so fond of quoting, said: ‘A man should restrain himself’.”

The elder Enthoven, who also recently released a novel, told Le Figaro that after reading Le Temps gagné, he texted his son to let him know that he would be cutting off all communication with him going forward.

“I am in mourning,” Jean-Paul went on. “

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Born in 1975, Raphaël Enthoven is an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Superieure. A philosophy graduate, he taught at the University of Lyon III for two years, then at the University of Paris VII Jussieu. In 2002 and 2003 he taught several philosophy classes at People’s University of Caen, founded by Michel Onfray,

Having at first distanced himself from it, Enthoven joined France Culture TV station and became co-producer of the show ‘Friday philosophy’ (2003 to 2006). He taught at Sciences Po from 2000-03 and from 2005-07, and at the Ecole Polytechnique from 2007-10. He also hosted a series of meetings at the National Library of France on the question of the “meaning of life” from 2004-09.

Enthoven produced the show ‘Political Meeting Place’ on France Culture in partnership with the Express during the 2006-7 election year, then became monthly columnist for the Express in 2009. From 2007-11 he produced and hosted ‘New Paths of Knowledge’, a daily program on France Culture.

Since 2008 Enthoven has hosted the program “Philosophy” on Arte and since 2012 ‘The Joy of Knowledge’ on Sunday on France Culture. He is Contributing Editor of Philosophy Magazine where he wrote the ‘Meaning of Life’ column from 2006-2010.

Since 2013, he teaches philosophy at the bilingual school Jeannine Manuel, A school associated with the Unesco.

Enthoven is a prominent figure in young contemporary French philosophy. His critical view of the world combined with an educational requirement to communicate philosophy and humanities to the world have made him one of the brightest intellectuals of his generation.

Enthoven has published a dozen books, alone or together, and produces audio CDs of interviews on the thought of Plato, Sartre, Montaigne, Spinoza, Kant, Descartes and Diderot.