The Closed World: Alexandre Koyré’s Émigré Universe

• In Event: Russian Émigré Philosophy and Religious Thought

Abstract

This paper discusses the life of Alexandre Koyré through the lens of émigré intellectual history. Koyré is best known as a philosopher of science: his work examined continuity, rather than conflict, between scientific and religious systems of thought in Europe, and his founding of the journal Recherches Philosophiques played a crucial role in bringing German phenomenology, and philosophies of science, into French academic culture. Throughout his life, however, Koyré was also an active participant in émigré life, including publishing a book on Russian philosophy, leading seminars on Russian/Slavic culture at the Sorbonne, and even lecturing on the Prince Igor epic together with Roman Jakobson. This paper examines these ignored aspects of Koyré’s work and discusses their broader significance for émigré culture.

Author

• Trevor Wilson, UNC at Chapel Hill