El 19 de enero de 2024 se celebró el centenario del nacimiento del filósofo francés Jean- François Revel. Escritor, periodista, filósofo, conocido y reconocido por su talento de polemista y su indiscutible erudición, Jean-François Revel sumaba a estas cualidades la fuerza de unas convicciones personales a contracorriente de su época y de su país. De su época: defendió un liberalismo intransigente contra toda forma de tentación totalitaria cuando casi nadie rechistaba contra la doxa marxista. De su país: resultó un exponente atípico de una corriente pesimista y escéptica en la nación que, probablemente, más carga de fe militante haya depositado en las capacidades transformadoras de la política. Sin embargo, estas dos consideraciones admiten, si no enmiendas totales, sí al menos parciales. Su liberalismo arrastraba las contradicciones de las tradiciones políticas francesa y americana y su obra no terminó de librarse de ellas.

19 January 2024 marked the centenary of the birth of the French philosopher Jean-François Revel. A writer, journalist, philosopher, known and recognised for his talent as a polemicist and his unquestionable erudition, Jean-François Revel added to these qualities the strength of his personal convictions, which went against the tide of his time and his country. Of his time: he defended an uncompromising liberalism against all forms of totalitarian temptation at a time when almost no one was shying away from Marxist doxa. Of his country: he was an atypical exponent of a pessimistic and sceptical current in the nation that has probably placed most militant faith in the transformative capacities of politics. However, these two considerations admit, if not total, then at least partial amendments. His liberalism carried with it the contradictions of the French and American political traditions, and his work did not manage to free itself from them.

Palabras Clave:
Jean-François Revel, liberalismo, socialismo, democracia, totalitarismo

Keywords:
Jean-François Revel, liberalism, socialism, democracy, totalitarianism

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