Paris - USI 2011 Session

Son of a barge man, Michel Serres joined the Ecole Navale in 1949 and the Ecole Normale supérieure in 1952 where he obtained the aggregation of philosophy in 1955. From 1956 to 1958, he served as an officer of the navy: squadron of the Atlantic, reopening of the Suez Canal, Algeria, and squadron of the Mediterranean Sea.

Michel Serres defended his thesis in 1968 and taught philosophy in Clermont-Ferrand, Vincennes (Paris I) and at Standford University. In his books, he focuses, among other themes, on the history of sciences (“Hermes”, 1969-1980). His philosophy, concerning as much sensibility as conceptual intelligence, searches for the possible junctions between exact sciences and social sciences. 

He has been appointed to the Académie Française in 1990 and became commandeur of the Légion d’honneur.

Rigorous epistemologist, he is also concerned by education and diffusion of knowledge. He is the author of Les cinq sens (Grasset), Le Contrat naturel, Le Tiers-Instruit (François Bourin), Les Origines de la Géométrie (Flammarion), La Légende des Anges (Flammarion) and Variations sur le corps (Le Pommier).