Raymond Ruyer

Raymond Ruyer (b. 1902 in Plainfaing Vosges,France - d. 1987 Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France was a French philosopher in the late 20th century. Author of many important works, he covered several topics such as the philosophy of biology, the philosophy of informatics, the philosophy of value and others. His most popular book is "The Gnosis of Princeton" in which he presents his own philosophic views under the pretence that the represented the views of an imaginary group of American scientists. He developed a theory on the conscience of all living matter, named "panpsychism"

Life

Raymond Ruyer was born in 1902 in the village of Plainfaing department of Vosges,France. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure, passing the aggregation in philosophy with a thesis on the "Phenomenology of knowledge". In 1937 he publishes his first book "The body and the conscience".

During World War II Raymond Ruyer was a prisoner of war in Germany from 1940 to 1944. Upon his return he is appointed professor of philosophy at the Université de Nancy, where he develops his theories on the philosophical implications of various branches of science, mainly embriology, biology and informatics. At the same time he continues his research on the theory of value which he had started before the war.

In the 1970s he is named corresponding member of the Institut de France. He is also offered a position at the Sorbonne which de declines, preferring to continue working in Nancy, where he was befriended by many other scientists.

Being opposed to the existentialism and the leftist trends of French post-war inteligentia, Ruyer's work was better accepted in scientific circles abroad than in France. Publicist Raymond Aron advised him to try his luck in writing more popular works. His first such attempts did not raise public interest. Therefore, based on the assumption that the French public was more fascinated by scientific developments in America, Ruyer published the book "The Gnosis of Princeton". He claimed to be in contact with a group of unidentified American gnostic philosophers who were trying to create a new religion identified as the Gnosis of Princeton, where most of these imaginary scientists were active. Thereafter Raymond Ruyer presented his own gnostic ideas. The book was a success as many of its readers were not aware of the hoax for a long time. However, his next publications did not raise interest in France, and were better known in Canada and the United States.

Raymond Ruyer died in 1987 in Nancy. His last work "Embryogenesis of the World and the Silent God" was never published and is deposed as manuscript at the University of Nancy.

Bibliography

(considered complete)

* "La conscience et le corps" - Alcan, Paris 1937,
* "Éléments de psycho-biologie" - Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1946)
* "Le monde des valeurs" - Aubier, Paris, 1947,
* "L'Utopie et les Utopies" - Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1950,
* ‘’L’action à distance d’après la science contemporaine’’ - Revue Métapsychique, 1951, n°16, 183-196
* ‘'Néofinalisme" - Presses Universitaires de France – Paris - 1952),
* "La cybernétique et l'origine de l'information" - Flammarion, Paris 1954,
* "La genèse des formes vivantes" - Flammarion, Paris, 1958,
* "La philosophie de la valeur" - Armand Colin, Paris, 1959),
* "Paradoxes de la conscience et limites de l'automatisme" - Albin Michel, Paris 1960,
* "L'animal, l'homme, la fonction symbolique" - Gallimard, Paris, 1964)
* "Éloge de la société de consommation" - Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1969,
* "Dieu des religions, Dieu de la science" - Flammarion, Paris 1970,
* "Les nuisances idéologiques" – Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1972,
* "La gnose de Princeton" - Fayard, Paris, 1974 ,
* "Les nourritures psychiques. La politique du bonheur" - Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1975,
* "Les cent prochains siècles" - Fayard, Paris, 1977,
* "Homère au féminin" ou "La jeune femme auteur de l'Odyssée" - Copernic, Paris 1977,
* "L'art d'être toujours content. Introduction à la vie gnostique" - Fayard, Paris, 1978,
* "Le sceptique résolu" - Robert Laffont, Paris, 1979.
* "Souvenirs -1- Ma famille alsacienne et ma vallée vosgienne" - Vent d'Est, Paris 1985.
* "L’embryogenèse du monde et le Dieu silencieux" 1983 (manuscris nepublicat)

References

* Laurent Meslet - "La philosophie biologique de Raymond Ruyer" – 1997 (ISBN 228400489)
* Laurent Meslet – "Le psychisme et la vie" – Harmattan, 2005 (ISBN 274758688X)
* "Raymond Ruyer, de la science à la théologie", collectif sous la direction de Louis Vax et Jean-Jacques Wunenburger Editions Kimé, 1995.
* Fabrice Colonna - "Ruyer" Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 2007 (ISBN 2251760563)
* Sylvie Leclerc-Reynaud - "Pour une documentation créative, l'apport de la philosophie de Raymond Ruyer" - Coll. Science et techniques de l'information, 2007 (ISBN 2843650852)
* "Raymond Ruyer – Biographie" [http://www.denistouret.net/textes/Ruyer.html]