Life story(ies)

Edgar Morin shares his experiences, reflections, and achievements throughout his intellectual journey in this Life Story(s). More than an autobiography, the book is a delve into the ideas and values that guide the work of one of the most influential contemporary thinkers.

Life story(ies) is the fruit of a long intellectual complicity that made journalist Laure Adler a privileged interlocutor of philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin. During these regular exchanges, they together explore the philosopher's life, his commitments, and his encounters.

The interviews evoke his childhood, marked by the death of his mother; his role in the Resistance alongside Marguerite Duras and François Mitterrand; his commitment to the Communist Party during the Algerian War; his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; ecology; migration; racism; anti-Semitism; and the role and duty of intellectuals in times of crisis, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a true visionary who pushes the boundaries of knowledge, Morin reveals the crucial moments that shaped his complex thinking.

On these countless topics, Morin provides Laure Adler with the perspective of a wise man, full of acuity and capable of self-criticism. The multiple reflections of a constantly evolving intellectual's thought, whom the journalist describes as "an adventurer of knowledge," wandering through all disciplines.

Morin's relentless quest for a deeper understanding of the human condition and the complexity of the world is captivatingly guided by the questions of his longtime friend. With clarity and depth, the philosopher shares his views on the world and offers an inspiring and provocative perspective on the future of humanity.

One of the greatest contemporary thinkers, as much as his thought, it is his long destiny that he evokes here with Laure Adler in this testimony that invites us to draw lessons of optimism and vitality.