May 26, 1987
Yvon Belaval (1908-1988):
A philosopher and philologist, specialist in Leibniz and eighteenth-century philosophy. After earning the agrégation in 1941, Belaval taught at the Lycée Montesquieu in Le Mans (1942-47), then at the University of Lille (where he recruited the young Michel Foucault as an assistant in 1953). He crossed paths with Foucault again: after having joined the faculty at the Sorbonne in 1965, Belaval (and also Paul Ricoeur) were the unfortunate alternate candidates opposite Foucault in 1969 for the College de France appointment. His many publications include books on Diderot, Leibniz, Kant and the Enlightenment. He is also responsible for the Histoire de la philosophie, Éditions Gallimard, coll. “La Pléiade”, t. 2 : De la Renaissance à la révolution kantienne, t. 3 : Du XIXe siècle à nos jours, 1973-1974 ; 1986-1991, XX-1142, XVI-1385 p.
In 1969, he was a member of the doctoral examination jury for Deleuze’s dissertation, as second reader, alongside Ferdinand Alquié, for the complementary dissertation on Spinoza