FONSEGRIVE LESPINASSE, GEORGES-PIERRE. — Philosopher and publicist, born in St-Capraise de Lalinde (Dordogne) on 19 October 1852, died in Paris in 1917. A courageous Catholic, he sought to promote the influence of the Church in the modern world. He taught philosophy at several secondary schools and finally at the Buffon lycée in Paris. His principal philosophical works are: Essai sur le libre arbitre (Paris 1883), Éléments de philosophie
FONSEGRIVE LESPINASSE GEORGES-PIERRE - FONTANA
(in several volumes, ibid. 1890–91); La causalité efficiente (ibid. 1893); François Bacon (ibid. 1893); Essais sur la connaissance (ibid. 1909). Convinced that there is, fundamentally, greater agreement among the great philosophers than may appear, F. L. sought to discover and bring to light a substantial harmony between the traditional philosophy of the Aristotelian tradition and modern philosophy.
F. L. perhaps exerted a greater influence on his contemporaries through his social novels. Under the pseudonym of 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; and in 1896, the Journal d'un évêque, works rich in ideas concerning the modern method of governing a parish or a diocese. They correspond to a quite specific situation: that of the Church of France around 1900; but many of the observations are of general and enduring 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), in which he studies the external conditions of a fruitful lay apostolate in the contemporary world, advocating a sound modernity of forms and methods.
From 1897 to 1907 F. L. was director of La quinzaine (founded by P. Harel in 1894), which under his direction became a journal of progressive spirit, in which several highly audacious articles were also published, such as Ed. Le Roy’s Qu'est-ce qu'un dogme?, which caused many readers to withdraw. The journal ceased publication in 1907. The volume Regards en arrière (Paris 1908) gathers the prefaces that its director published each year. Finally, several works should be mentioned in which F. L. set forth 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).