The Philosopher
Frantz Fanon
The face
The background
- Nationality:
- French
- Branchs:
- Psychiatry, Political philosophy, Post-colonial studies, critical theory, Community psychology, Institutional psychotherapy
- Period:
- Contemporary philosophy
The synopsis
Frantz Omar Fanon (20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique. His works have become influential in the fields of post-colonial studies and critical theory. Fanon was also a political radical and Pan-Africanist, concerned with the psychopathology of colonization and the human, social, and cultural consequences of decolonization. In the course of his work as a physician and psychiatrist, Fanon supported the Algerian War of independence from France and was a member of the Algerian National Liberation Front. Fanon has been described as "the most influential anticolonial thinker of his time". For more than five decades, the life and works of Fanon have inspired national liberation movements and other freedom and political movements. Fanon formulated a model for community psychology, believing that many mental health patients would have an improved prognosis if they were integrated into their family and community instead of being treated with institutionalized care. He also helped found the field of institutional psychotherapy.
The works
Black Skin, White Masks
A Dying Colonialism
The Wretched of the Earth
Toward the African Revolution
Alienation and Freedom
The quotes
For the black man there is only one destiny. And it is white.
However painful it may be for me to accept this conclusion, I am obliged to state it: for the black man there is only one destiny. And it is white.
There is a point at which methods devour themselves.
I ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of language. To speak means to be in a position to use a certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language, but it means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization.
Violence is man re-creating himself.
Fervor is the weapon of choice of the impotent.
He who is reluctant to recognize me opposes me.