FONSEGRIVE LESPINASSE, GEORGES-PIERRE. - Philosopher and publicist, b. at St-Capraise de Lalinde (Dordogne) on 19 Oct. 1852, d. in Paris in 1917. A courageous Catholic, he sought to promote the influence of the Church in the modern world. He taught philosophy in various lycées and finally at the Lycée Buffon in Paris. His principal philosophical works are: Essai sur le libre arbitre (Paris 1883), Éléments de philosophie
(2 vols., ibid. 1890-91); La causalité efficiente (ibid. 1893); François Bacon (ibid. 1893); Essais sur la connaissance (ibid. 1909). Convinced that deep down there is more agreement among the great philosophers than is apparent, F. L. seeks to discover and bring to light a substantial harmony between the traditional philosophy of the Aristotelian current and modern philosophy.
It was perhaps through his social novels that F. L. exercised the greater influence on his contemporaries. Under the pseudonym Yves le Kerdec he published in Paris in 1893 the Lettres d'un curé de campagne; in 1894 the Lettres d'un curé de canton; in 1896, the Journal d'un évêque, works rich in ideas on the modern method of governing a parish or a diocese. They correspond to a very definite situation: that of the Church of France around 1900; but many observations are of general and perennial interest. He also published two novels intended for the laity: Le fils de l'Esprit (Paris 1905) and Le mariage du docteur Ducras (ibid. 1916), where he studies the external conditions of a fruitful lay apostolate in the contemporary world, advocating a healthy modernity of forms and methods.
From 1897 to 1907 F. L. was director of La quinzaine (founded by P. Harel in 1894), which in his hands became a journal of progressive spirit, where some very bold articles were also published, such as that of Ed. Le Roy, Qu'est-ce qu'un dogme?, which alienated many readers. The journal ceased in 1907. The volume Regards en arrière (Paris 1908) collects the prefaces that its director published each year. Finally, mention should be made of certain works in which F. L. set out his social and political ideas: Catholicisme et démocratie (ibid. 1896); Mariage et union libre (ibid. 1904); La crise sociale (ibid. 1905); Morale et société (ibid. 1907), and the important survey De Taine à Péguy (ibid. 1917).
Bibliography
Carlo Boyer