The Philosopher

Luc Brisson

The face

The background

Nationality:
Canadian
Schools:
Platonism, Neoplatonism
Branchs:
History of philosophy, Anthropology of antiquity, Platonism, Neoplatonism, ancient Greek philosophy
Period:
Ancient philosophy

The synopsis

Luc Brisson, born on March 10, 1946, in Saint-Esprit, Quebec, is a Canadian historian of philosophy and anthropologist of antiquity. He is an emeritus director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Brisson received his education in Quebec's ecclesiastically administered institutions. In the late 1960s, he moved to Paris to pursue a PhD on Plato's *Timaeus* under Clémence Ramnoux at Paris X Nanterre. He was a visiting scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, during 1971-1972 and also studied Sanskrit. Supported by Jean Pépin, Brisson joined the CNRS in 1974 and received the Zographos Prize in 1975 for his commentary on Plato's *Timaeus*. Although his interests are broad, he identifies as a historian of philosophy specializing in Plato and Platonism. His scholarly work includes studies on Neoplatonism and new French translations of Plotinus. Brisson emphasizes the connection between myth and reason in his work and views philosophy as a spiritual exercise for individual transformation, influenced by Pierre Hadot.

The works