Michel Onfray | |
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![]() Onfray in 2012 | |
Born | Argentan, France | 1 January 1959
Alma mater | University of Caen Lower Normandy |
Era | Contemporary philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Materialism Hedonism Epicureanism Atheism Consequentialism Anarchism Patriotism Mutualism |
Main interests | Atheism, religion, ethics, Cyrenaic school, hedonism, Epicureanism, pleasure, history of philosophy, materialism, aesthetics, bioethics |
Notable ideas | The principle of Gulliver (le principe de Gulliver) |
Michel Onfray (French: [miʃɛl ɔ̃fʁɛ]; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books.[1][2] His philosophy is mainly influenced by such thinkers as Nietzsche, Epicurus, the Cynic and Cyrenaic schools, as well as French materialism. He has gained notoriety for writing such works as Traité d'athéologie: Physique de la métaphysique (translated into English as Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), Politique du rebelle: traité de résistance et d'insoumission, Physiologie de Georges Palante, portrait d'un nietzchéen de gauche, La puissance d'exister and La sculpture de soi for which he won the annual Prix Médicis in 1993.
Onfray is often regarded as being left-wing;[3][4] however, some observers have stated that he harbours right-wing tendencies.[5][6][7][8] He has become appreciated by some far-right circles, notably with his sovereignist magazine Front populaire.[9][10]
a gifted and prolific author who, at the age of only 46, has already written 30 books