ABSTRACT
In 1932, the philosopher Emmanuel Mounier made a personal effort to renew French political and intellectual life by establishing the famous review Esprit, together with the eponymous movement. This chapter traces the genesis of his personalist philosophy through the Carnets, emphasizing the plurality of sources from which his philosophical reflections developed, as well as the importance of personal encounters in shaping his particular contribution to political renewal. Economic crisis is mentioned only fleetingly, other than in a methodological account of the teachings of Abbe Lallement, while political crisis receives similarly limited discussion, the main focus being on the papal condemnation of Action Francaise in 1926 and the failure of the Russian Revolution. A more detailed analysis of Mounier's approach to intellectual crisis sheds further light on his ethical framework. For Jacques Chevalier, following closely in Henri Bergson's footsteps, the intellectual crisis was essentially methodological.
