Violences des hommes par Gérard Gouesbet (review)

of the military vision of the political future of French West Africa along with the last years of French colonial rule. Ginio in this study claims that the colonial era has never ended by demonstrating amply the everlasting effects of French colonial rule on West French Africa after independence and beyond. Sarah Lawrence College (NY) Claudy Delné Gouesbet, Gérard. Violences des hommes. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2016. ISBN 978-2-34309489 -2. Pp. 334. In this second volume of a tetralogy that investigates the multifaceted nature of various manifestations of violence that transpire in a deterministic, chaotic universe, Gouesbet focuses on the origins of human aggression. Building upon his biocentric premise in the first installment that violence is inscribed in the material essence of everything, the physicist and philosopher of science highlights the most salient features that define human aggression. In an effort to understand the complex nuances of the passions and“pulsions”that incite deadly conflicts more fully, Gouesbet incorporates philosophical, scientific, literary, theological, historical, and psychological perspectives into his reflections (17). Incessantly transgressing disciplinary boundaries, the author reflects upon the driving forces that compel us to commit barbaric acts of aggression and to subjugate the Other. Underscoring the limitations of Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, Gouesbet adopts “une approche phénoménologique” to grapple with this timeless philosophical problem (32). The author reinterprets both secular and religious texts from antiquity to the present representing many different philosophical and spiritual traditions. These highly original rereadings render his reflections more accessible to a broader audience by offering a meaningful context from which to broach a difficult subject. In one of the most intriguing chapters, “Les démons de l’anneau,” Gouesbet also delves into music theory. The author convincingly posits that Wagner’s tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung is a valid source of philosophical inspiration that sheds light on the roots of human violence. In this wide-ranging work, the author displays an extensive base of knowledge that is reminiscent of the encyclopedic thought of the epistemologists Edgar Morin and Michel Serres. Gouesbet also summarizes the basic tenets of René Girard’s mimetic theory of violence and tries to expand this paradigm even further to create a more comprehensive theoretical model for understanding aggression.Gouesbet’s most compelling arguments are related to neoliberalism, the family unit, and the role of women in Western society. The philosopher explains that the neoliberal economic system promotes an extreme type of narcissism that encourages consumer citizens to exploit anyone and everything for financial gain. In reference to how the pervasive influence of neoliberal ideology has elevated what could only be described as a ruthless kind of economic warfare to the status of a virtue, Gouesbet decries this “contre-éthique où toutes les valeurs vicieuses recensées sont, 224 FRENCH REVIEW 91.3 Reviews 225 à un moment ou à l’autre, mises à l’honneur” (99). Far from being a haven of peace, the author reveals that the “typical” family structure fosters power struggles that often reach a dangerous boiling point throughout life. According to the philosopher, traditional family paradigms predicated upon the world’s three most dominant monotheistic religions continue to justify deplorable acts of violence against women and to reinforce exploitative and abusive patriarchal institutions. In short, Violences des hommes is an indispensable resource that stimulates critical reflection about the essence of violence in a human-centered world in which we have the technological prowess to obliterate each other and the entire biosphere.In the present era of hominization , the stakes of this much-needed conversation cannot be overstated. Mississippi State University Keith Moser Kay, Sarah. Animal Skins and the Reading Self in Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries. Chicago: UP of Chicago, 2017. ISBN 978-0-226-43673-9. Pp. 203. Focusing on medieval Latin and French bestiaries, Sarah Kay undertakes an examination of medieval attitudes toward animals and their significance to humans. In this first study in English since Florence McCulloch’s 1962 Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries, Kay diverges from McCulloch by highlighting the “Continental roots” of the bestiary and by identifying France as an important point of contact and exchange between the various bestiary traditions. Kay pays special attention to six vernacular...