Biography
Philosopher, essayist and speaker Laurence Devillairs brings great thinkers into dialogue with contemporary challenges of power, decision-making and responsibility.
Thinking in order to act
A graduate of the École Normale Supérieure, agrégée and PhD in philosophy, Laurence Devillairs specialises in moral philosophy and major seventeenth-century thinkers, especially Descartes and Pascal. Her ambition is to make philosophy immediately useful for understanding, choosing and acting.
Power at the heart of organisations
An APM expert since 2018, she works with leaders and managers on essential questions: who decides? In whose name? What makes authority legitimate? She applies political philosophy to governance, leadership, conflict and responsibility.
Justice, anger and responsibility
In Vengeance. Le droit de ne pas pardonner, published in 2026, she explores injustice, anger, dignity and abuses of power. She questions the social injunction to forgive and places responsibility back on the person who committed the injustice.
A philosopher who commands the stage
During her Impro-Philo evenings at the Théâtre du Lucernaire, the audience chooses the questions and Laurence Devillairs builds her reasoning live. Culture, humour and improvisation make philosophy vivid, accessible and deeply embodied.
Turn philosophy into a tool for decision-making and action.
— Laurence Devillairs
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