Serres, Michel

(1930- )

   philosopher, writer

   Born in Agen, Michel Serres served as a naval officer and then became a university professor (the sorbonne and Stanford University in the U.S. State of California). He wrote his thesis on Leibnitz (Le Systéme de Leibnitz et ses modèles mathématiques, 1968), and has written works on the history of science and of ideas (Hermes, five volumes, 1969-80; Les Origines de la géométrie, 1933), texts on art, such as Esthétiques sur Carpaccio (1975), as well as more general essays in which he demonstrated his talents as a writer (Le Contrat naturel, 1990; Le Tiers instruit, 1991). His views, inspired by the structures of logical thought (Leibnitz), examine the paths of knowledge and end up with studies or readings such as Jouvences sur Jules Verne (1974). Identifying with the 18th-century French tradition, he added to the intellectual heritage with a sensualist reflection on the wisdom of the body (Les Cinq Sens, 1985). Insisting on the importance of communication (sometimes with humor and brio, as in his analysis of Belgian artist Hergé's Bijoux de la Castafiore in Hermes), Serres ascribes to the subject a function of transcendence by a rapport between theory and practice. He was elected to the ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE in 1990.