Lacroix, Jean

Lacroix, Jean 

Born Dec. 23, 1900, in Lyon. French philosopher; exponent of personalism. Instructor of philosophy in Lyon since 1937. Editor of the philosophy department of the newspaper Le Monde since 1944.

Maintaining that Marxism regards the human being only in terms of his social essence, whereas existentialism limits itself to an analysis of the individual’s inner life, Lacroix advocated “overcoming” these two philosophies in personalism by means of assimilation and reworking. According to Lacroix, “reason” should be absorbed by the “spirit,” which must take in all the discoveries and achievements of contemporary civilization. The personalistic theory of knowledge is understood by Lacroix as the “theory of faith”; cognition, according to Lacroix, is the expression of the complete personality, its internal yearning, the “ontological longing for existence.” Being realized, this longing becomes a religious faith.

WORKS

Timidité et adolescence. Paris, 1936.
Force et faiblesse de la famille. Paris, 1949.
Le Sens de l’athéisme moderne. Paris, 1958.
Personne et amour. Paris, 1961.
M. Blondel. Paris, 1963.
Le Sens du dialogue, 4th ed. Neuchâtel, 1965.
Marxisme, existentialisme, personnalisme, 6th ed. Paris, 1966.
La Sociologie d’Auguste Comte, 3rd ed. Paris, 1967.
Les Sentiments et la vie morale, 7th ed. Paris, 1968.
Kant et le kantisme, 3rd ed. Paris, 1969.

V. K. ZELINSKII