FONSEGRIVE LESPINASSE, GEORGES-PIERRE. – Philosopher and publicist, b. at St-Caprine de L'Inde (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. 1880–91); La causalité efficiente (ibid. 1893); François Bacon (ibid. 1893); Essais sur la connaissance (ibid. 1909). Convinced that beneath the surface there is more agreement among great philosophers than appears, F. L. sought to discover and bring to light a substantial harmony between traditional Aristotelian philosophy and modern philosophy.
Perhaps F. L. exerted his greatest influence on contemporaries through his social novels. Under the pseudonym Yves le Kerdec he published in Paris in 1893 Lettres d'un curé de campagne; in 1894 Lettres d'un curé de canton; in 1896, Journal d'un évêque, works rich in ideas on the modern method of governing a parish or diocese. They correspond to a very specific situation: that of the Church in France around 1900; but many observations are of general and perennial interest. He also published two novels intended for laypeople: Le fils de l'Esprit (Paris 1905) and Le mariage du docteur Duroc (ibid. 1916), in which he studies the external conditions of fruitful lay apostolate in the contemporary world, advocating a wholesome modernity of forms and methods.
From 1897 to 1907 F. L. was editor of La quinzaine (founded by P. Harel in 1894), which under his direction became a progressive journal, publishing some daring articles, such as that of Ed. Le Roy, Qu'est-ce qu'un dogme?, which alienated many readers. The journal ceased publication in 1907. The volume Regards en arrière (Paris 1908) collects the prefaces that its editor published each year. Finally, mention should be made of several works in which F. L. expounds his social and political ideas: Catholicisme et démocratie (ibid. 1896); Mariage et union libre (ibid. 1904); La crise sociale (ibid. 1905); Marrake et société (ibid. 1907), and the important review De Taine à Péguy (ibid. 1917).
F. L. archbishop G. F. (Cahiers de la nouvelle journal, 11), Paris 1928.