Bernard-Henri Lévy

The philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy is widely acknowledged as being one of the most important thinkers and public intellectuals in France. The Boston Globe described Lévy as “perhaps the most prominent intellectual in France today” in 2015. One of Lévy’s crowning achievements was his prominent role of the foundation of the Nouveaux Philosophes movement, which sought to challenge systems of authoritarian power.

Lévy has published a wide variety of influential texts across his career which has spanned several decades. But perhaps the most significant has been L’Idéologie française (The French Ideology), which challenged popular perceptions of France as a nation. Lévy has also participated in artistic fields as well as philosophy, and his one-man play, “Last Exit before Brexit”, recently opened in London. Meanwhile, Lévy has remained active in public debate in social and political issues, frequently speaking out on what he deems to be injustices and corruption.

Another key aspect of Lévy’s life has been his Jewish identity, and this has informed a significant proportion of his cultural criticism. Indeed, Lévy has asserted that Jews should offer a unique Jewish moral voice. With this in mind, Lévy was an outspoken advocate of intervention in Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, citing the Nazi Holocaust of Jews as a precedent, and his recently published L’Esprit du Judaisme explores the State of Israel in modern times. Bernard-Henri Lévy has been a sometimes controversial, but always compelling, voice in political, social, and philosophical debate for nearly half a century.