Vianney Décarie

Joseph Fernand Lionel Vianney Décarie OC GOQ was a Canadian philosopher. Born in Montreal, Canada on November 28, 1917, he died in Montreal on September 6, 2009, at the age of 91, from pneumonia. Décarie was a descendant of a prominent Quebec family, with his grandfather being a significant landowner in Montreal and Notre Dame de Grace. The Décarie Expressway is named after his family. At the age of 17, Décarie received the Prix Colin de Rhétorique for achieving the best marks in rhetoric across the province's collèges classiques. He earned his doctorate by 1950 and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1954. During this time, he studied St. Thomas Aquinas's writings on Aristotle at Harvard University's Widener Library. In 1961, he became the director of the École normale supérieure at the University of Montreal, an institution that aimed to raise teaching standards and eventually became the university's faculty of education. Décarie advocated for a stronger post-secondary system, including a research council, peer review, and a body for implementing best practices, ideas that predated the Parent Commission. His publication, L'object de la métaphysique selon Aristotle, is considered a significant work on the philosopher. He also obtained his Doctorat d'État from La Sorbonne and was featured in Paris Match. Décarie's political writings and intellectual explorations sometimes led to conflict with the clergy who managed the university. He was instrumental in hiring Pierre Trudeau at the university after advocating for him. He also contributed to the political magazine Cité Libre and played a role in the early career of Charles Taylor. Décarie was considered an avant-garde Christian philosopher in the 1960s, and regularly hosted international philosophers like Paul Ricoeur, Paul Vignaux, and Henri-Irénée Marrou. He retired mandatorily at 65 but continued lecturing, including at McGill University, and pursued research until shortly before his death, when he was diagnosed with vascular dementia. He was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Quebec (as a Grand Officer) for his contributions to secular education. He was married to Thérèse Gouin Décarie, a researcher in early childhood development, and had four children: Pascale, Dominique, Jean-Claude, and Emmanuel. Despite his respect for his children's religious choices, he attended church every Sunday. His passion for language extended to a fascination with ancient Greek words and short-wave radio.