Claude Brunier-Coulin

Learned Societies

Affiliated to the following learned societies:

Société Française de Philosophie, i.e. French society for philosophy
The French society for philosophy is a very old learned society, formed in 1901 on the initiative of Xavier Léon and André Lalande. They aim at gathering philosophical works by creating a centre for communication and information, at working for rapprochement between learned people and philosophers, launching discussions in order to precise the meaning and the position of different problems, criticizing and determining philosophical language, dealing with educational questions, and preparing the organization of congresses. Most of the great philosophers of the 20th century have taken part to their conferences: Bergson, Husserl, Einstein, Langevin, Poincaré, Sartre, Foucault, Derrida. It is thus a prestigious society, but made up from few members (only 350). Their activities are like the one of any traditional learned society: four conferences per year, an international colloquium every 3 or 4 years, publication of a Bulletin (which is in fact the text of each conference with the transcription of the following discussion), published by Vrin publisher. Besides, the Society is the owner of the Revue de métaphysique et de morale, ie. Metaphysics and morality journal, published by Presses Universitaires de France. 

Association des amis de Henry et Stella CORBIN, i.e. The Friends of Henry and Stella CORBIN association
Henry Corbin (1903-1978), orientalist and philosopher, is one of the most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. He was a disciple of Étienne Gilson and Louis Massignon, to whom he succeeded on the chair of Islamic studies of the Sorbonne’s École Pratique des Hautes Études, and has also been a fundamental pillar, with C.G. Jung and M. Eliade, amongst others, of the Cercle Eranos from 1949 to 1977, director of the Iranology department of the Institut franco-iranien de Téhéran (ie. Franco-Iranian Institute of Tehran) from 1946 to 1977, professor for more than 30 years at the University of Tehran, and was a founding member of Université Saint-Jean de Jérusalem. Henry Corbin has made visible for Western countries the existence of a world whose existence was until then completely unknown: the profound spirituality of the great Shiite mystics and the philosophy developed in Eastern Muslim world, in particular in Iran, after the death of Averroes. His works rely on the Islamic knowledge and spirituality, but are developed in the context of the three monotheist religions; a huge part of its works are studies on the rites, and also translations and editing of unpublished ancient Arabic or Persian texts, that he patiently collected in Turkish or Iranian libraries.

 

Søren KIERKEGAARD society
This society aims at favouring the knowledge and studies in France of the Danish thinker, whose works consist in theoretical studies, but also essays in literature and philosophy and religious « speeches ». This huge production is made of lots of metaphors, combines conceptual analysis with humour, irony and paradox. The Society wishes to draw attention to new translations and newly published critical books. They also organize various events (meetings, debates, conferences, colloquium) so that researchers from all countries can present their works.

 

Association des Philosophes Chrétiens, i.e. Christian philosophers association

This association, whose president is Jean-Noël Dumont, has been founded in 2002.

They aim at promoting debates and research around the works of the philosopher Francis Jacques (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle). In this objective, they organize meetings and conferences getting in touch researchers from various fields (philosophy, communication sciences, literature, linguistics, ethics, theology, etc.), working with concepts and methods developed by F. Jacques, in particular the notions of dialogism, interrogativity, interrogation modes, but also his theory of textuality and types of texts.

 

Participation into the following organizations:

 

Secular Franciscan Order

The Secular Franciscan Order is place for freedom and welcome, where each individual’s personality can exist and bloom. Thus the way of life are very diverse… but their source and dynamism come from the same spirit. In order to live a fraternal and evangelic life like the one of saint Francis of Assisi, men, women and households meet and set up the Secular Franciscan order, whose momentum and creativity come from the very life of Francis. How different their ages, cultures and situations may be, those who wish to take part to this order gather and build, day after day, an evangelic community. Such a project cannot be built in a few meetings: it relies upon shared lives, in the slowness of progresses, in welcome and kindness. The great moments can consist in sharing of a personal, familial, social event, studying a theme for a year or a topical question. These are time for listening and praying. Each group can now create its own face and develop a project according to this « life proposal ».

 

Association Nationale des Visiteurs de Prison, ie. National association of prison visitors

Created in 1932, the National association of prison visitors has been recognized for their public utility by a decree of the 9th May 1951. From the beginning they aim at helping morally and materially the detainee and their families and at supporting them so that they can successfully live a free life again. The activities of prison visitors are defined by the FRENCH CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (decree N°85-836 of the 06/08/1985), in the articles D472 to D477 dealing with care, approval, relations with prison administration and contacts with detainees. Besides, a convention between the justice and the National association of prison visitors was signed in May 1995 with the prison administration direction. It determines the practice conditions of prison visitors and alludes to the CHARTER of prison visitors approved by the French Ministry of Justice. This charter sets out precisely the rights and duties of visitors and frames the relations with the detainee he or she cares of, and also the actions he or she can take on the detainee’s behalf. This convention has been renewed in July 2012.