Philippe Descola

Philippe Descola
Born (1949-06-19) 19 June 1949
France
Philosophical work
EraContemporary philosophy/Social anthropology/Ethnology/Social science
RegionFrench philosophy
Structuralism
Main interests
Anthropology, Epistemology, Ethnology, Ontology
Notable ideas
The four ontologies (animism, totemism, analogism, naturalism)

Philippe Descola, FBA (French: [fi.lip de.skɔ.la]; born 19 June 1949) is a French anthropologist noted for studies of the Achuar, one of several Jivaroan peoples, and for his contributions to anthropological theory.

Background

Descola first graduated in philosophy at the École normale supérieure de Lyon and later turned to anthropology, and became a student of Claude Lévi-Strauss (who had followed the same academic path).[1]

His ethnographic studies in the Amazon region of Ecuador began in 1976 and were funded by CNRS. He lived with the Achuar from 1976 to 1978.[2][3] His reputation largely arises from these studies.

Academic career

As a professor, he has been invited several times to the Universities of São Paulo, Beijing, Chicago, Montreal, London School of Economics, Cambridge, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Gothenburg, Uppsala and Leuven. He has given lectures in over forty universities and academic institutions abroad, including the Beatrice Blackwood Lecture at Oxford, the George Lurcy Lecture at Chicago, the Munro Lecture at Edinburgh, the Radcliffe-Brown Lecture at the British Academy, the Clifford Geertz Memorial Lecture at Princeton, the Jensen Lecture at Frankfurt and the Victor Goldschmidt Lecture at Heidelberg. He has chaired the Société des Américanistes since 2002 and the scientific committee of the Fondation Fyssen from 2001 to 2009, as well as holding memberships in many other scientific committees.[4] He has also be elected Honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and received in 2015 the honoris causa doctorate from the University of Montreal, Canada.[5] From 2000 to 2019, he was chair of anthropology at the Collège de France.

Published works

From his 2005 book Beyond Nature and Culture he has turned towards a more theoretical anthropology, reviving his philosophical studies to propose a new anthropological epistemology, influenced by the sociological work of his friend Bruno Latour. This new and controversial trend has been dubbed the "narrow ontological turn",[6] and has been the subject of a fashion effect between 2014 and 2017, particularly in France.

In his book Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle, Descola documents and explains the culture of the Achuar in terms of cosmology and metaphysics.[3] He "parses out the subtleties of Achuar cosmology and metaphysics but also treats the mores and manners of everyday life -- like the etiquette of drinking manioc beer when visiting -- with empathy and a keen eye."[3] With attention to the minutest detail, the book focuses on one of hundreds of distinct Indigenous societies in the Amazon, the biological diversity of the tropical forest where they live, and the interdependence between the Achuar society and its natural environment, thus stressing the critical point that what happens to one aspect affects the whole.[3] Moreover, this book aligns with a key insight from his overarching theory, emphasized in later works, in particular Beyond Nature and Culture, that challenges Western notions of neutrality between culture and nature.

Personal life

His wife, Anne-Christine Taylor, is an ethnologist, specialist of Amazonian peoples.

Distinctions

Partial bibliography

  • Descola, Philippe (1994). In the society of nature: a native ecology in Amazonia. Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology 93. Nora Scott (trans.). Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 27974392.
  • Descola, Philippe (1996). The spears of twilight: life and death in the Amazon jungle. Janet Lloyd (trans.). New York: New Press. OCLC 34471521.
  • Philippe Descola (December 2010). "Cognition, Perception and Worlding". Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 35 (3–4): 334–340. doi:10.1179/030801810X12772143410287. ISSN 0308-0188. Wikidata Q113836660.
  • Descola, Philippe (2013). Beyond Nature and Culture. Janet Lloyd (trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. OCLC 809911095.

Titles in French

  • Les Formes du visible, Paris:Seuil, 2021, ISBN 978-2-02-147698-9
  • Par-delà nature et culture, Paris:Gallimard, 2005, ISBN 9782070772636
  • Le Sport est-il un jeu ?, Paris:Robert Laffont, 2022, ISBN 9782221264454
  • Cultures, Paris:PUF, 2017, ISBN 9782355362675
  • Étre au monde, Presses universitaires de Lyon, 2014, ISBN 9782729708870
  • La composition des mondes, ISBN 9782081395947
  • Les Grandes Civilisations, ISBN 9782227483118

Further reading

Main article: List of important publications in anthropology

References

  1. ^ Knight, John; Rival, Laura (1992). "An Interview with Philippe Descola". Anthropology Today. 8 (2): 9–13. doi:10.2307/2783493. JSTOR 2783493. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  2. ^ Descola, Philippe (4 December 1994). In the Society of Nature: A Native Ecology in Amazonia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-57467-9. Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c d Schwartzman, Stephan (2 February 1997). "Treasures of the Trees". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  4. ^ "Page non trouvée".
  5. ^ "L'Université de Montréal décerne un doctorat honoris causa à Philippe Descola | UdeMNouvelles". Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  6. ^ Marshall Sahlins, « https://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/hau4.1.013 On the ontological scheme of Beyond nature and culture] », HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory Volume 4, n°1, 2014.
  7. ^ "Centre national de la recherche scientifique". 27 June 2023.
  8. ^ "College de France biographical note". 11 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Décret du 14 mai 2004 portant promotion et nomination – Légifrance". Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Prix et distinctions". 2 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Results of 2010 Fellowship Elections – British Academy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  12. ^ "Actualités & Agenda". Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  13. ^ Philippe Descola, “Prof. Philippe Descola: Winner of the 2012 CNRS Golden Medal”, La lettre du Collège de France [Online], 7 | 2015, Online since 29 October 2015, connection on 05 June 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/lettre-cdf/2599; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/lettre-cdf.2599
  14. ^ Legion of Honor website
  15. ^ "Prix de la Principauté 2022". Philo Monaco. Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  16. ^ Esteve, Camille (17 October 2022). "Découvrez les lauréats 2022 des Prix de la Fondation Prince Pierre". Monaco Tribune (in French). Archived from the original on 17 December 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
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