The philosopher Émile Chartier, better known as Alain (1868-1951), lived through the whole of the IIIrd Republic and imposed on this period a certain image of the philosopher, which stayed the symbol of the French style per excellence for a long time.
All his life he identified himself to his role as a professor preparing students for the entrance exam to the "Grands Écoles," since he always refused to teach at state universities even though his fame and reputation would have enabled him to do so.
Yet Alain is also known for having invented a characteristic genre: philosophical journalism. During several decennia he published on a daily basis and in various newspapers his famous Propos, which contributed more to his legend than his purely philosophical books.
Finally, during the inter-war period he embodied determined pacifism, the very same person who volunteered in the Great War.
His secular and republican convictions and his fierce pacifism turned him into the cantor of radical culture of the 1920s and 30s.
When considering his life, we encounter not only the educational environment and that of IIIrd-Republic politics but also the environment of journalism in Paris and the rest of France.
Thierry Leterre, a former student at the École normale supérieure, teaches at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. He is the author of the best book written on Alain of the past years: La Raison politique. Alain et la démocratie (2000, PUF).
