There is an overdose of the sacred - Michel Onfray

Onfray is one of those French philosophers who is really popular in France and yet has attracted hardly any attention over in the anglophone world. He is a popular philosopher who sells around the same amount in France as Alain de Botton does in Britain but is a much different kind of philosopher and character. de Botton comes across like a bright but lost and vulnerable public schoolboy. Onfray dressed in black, hooded even, is caustic and working class - a fan of Bourdieu too. (Incidentally de Botton's work is liked in France - Roger Pol Droit in Le Monde gave a favourable review to de Botton's Consolations of Philosophy.)

Onfray was interviewed in Le Monde 2 in early April. It seems to have been a difficult interview. Onfray starts off by criticising French journalism for misrepresentation. He then goes on to say some very interesting things 'There is an overdose of the sacred' (Il y a une overdose du sacré). He then pits the virtues of philosophy against theology:

Si vous vous contentez de dire aux gens de regarder la mort en face car ils risquent de mourir bientôt, et qu'ils se débrouillent avec ça, je comprends qu'ils soient dans le déni et bricolent des fictions, comme la vie après la mort! Quand on ne fournit pas d'idéologie de substitution, les individus se réfugient dans la fable. La solution est de dire: << Donnons de la philosophie, sortons de l'ère théologique, entrons dans la philosophie.>> Les gens ne sont pas des abrutis. Si on leur explique, par exemple, les réflexions d'Epicure, ils seront capables d'y trouver des éléments pour affronter philosophiquement la mort.

If you content yourself in saying to people look death in the face for you risk dying soon, and they are happy with that, I understand that they are in denial and are botching together fictions for themselves such as life after death. When we don't furnish any alternative ideology these individuals seek refuge in fables. The solution is to say let's have philosophy, leave the theological era, get into philosophy. People are not moronic. If you explain to them, for example, the reflections of Epicurus, they will be capable of finding there some elements to confront death philosophically.

By the way Sartre died around 25 years ago.

Just been in France for a few weeks and there is a great deal going on there to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Sartre. I didn't see anything going on in Britain or through the BBC. Even if BBC4 is the place where everybody goes to think, no Sartre. Over the Channel there is a load of stuff, here and France Culture has a series of programmes about him, get details here.