“Think clearly to live rightly, without illusion... and without giving up joy.”
André Comte-Sponville
André Comte-Sponville est un ancien élève de l'École normale supérieure, agrégé de philosophie, docteur de l'Université Paris 1 (sous la direction de Marcel Conche), il entame sa carrière dans l'enseignement avant de se consacrer pleinement à l'écriture et aux conférences. Influencé par Épicure, Montaigne et Spinoza, il incarne une pensée à la fois rationaliste, matérialiste et humaniste. Maître de conférences à la Sorbonne pendant près de quinze ans, il quitte le monde académique en 1998 pour se mettre au service de la diffusion de la philosophie auprès du grand public. Il développe une éthique accessible, centrée sur la sagesse pratique, le bonheur, le désir et la lucidité face à la finitude. Auteur traduit en plus de 30 langues, il compte parmi les philosophes francophones les plus lus au monde.
Engagé dans les débats contemporains, il a siégé au Comité consultatif national d'éthique (2008–2016) et préside l'Institut Diderot. Il milite activement pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité et défend une spiritualité laïque, affranchie de tout dogme religieux. Il se définit comme un "athée fidèle", attaché aux valeurs héritées des traditions chrétiennes, sans croire en Dieu. Son œuvre abondante se partage entre essais philosophiques, dictionnaires et études de terrain : « Petit traité des grandes vertus », « Le bonheur, désespérément », « Le capitalisme est-il moral ? », « L'esprit de l'athéisme », « Du corps », ou plus récemment « L'opportunité de vivre – Ultimes études » (PUF, 2025), qu'il décrit comme son « dernier livre ».
Aiguillon d'une pensée exigeante et populaire, il intervient régulièrement dans les médias (France Inter, LCI, Europe 1, Le Monde, Challenges) et donne des conférences dans des entreprises, institutions, collectivités locales ou événements philosophiques. Il cherche à rapprocher les réponses des philosophes classiques des problématiques d'aujourd'hui : amour, motivation, management, risque, spiritualité… Touché par un AVC en 2022, il en tire une méditation encore plus profonde sur le rapport au corps, à la fragilité et à la fin de vie. Pour lui, « philosopher, c'est apprendre à mourir… et à vivre ». Le parcours d'André Comte-Sponville est un chemin de rigueur, de clarté et de fidélité à une sagesse simple, incarnée et universelle.
Sense of work, happiness, and motivation – Management philosophy!
- In this conference, André Comte-Sponville analyzes how social and cultural changes — 35 hours, the rise of leisure, loss of sense — have transformed our relationship with work. Work, according to him, is no longer an absolute duty but a means of personal fulfillment.
- He explores the links between desire, meaning, and engagement: how to motivate without coercing? How to regain a collective dynamic without sacrificing individual freedom? Work is only desired for the happiness it provides or allows — it must be meaningful, and not experienced as a sterile obligation.
- Through examples drawn from business and daily life, the speaker invites us to reconsider the place of work in our lives. He combines ancient philosophy and contemporary thought to offer a humanistic and lucid approach to management.
- In conclusion, he proposes a philosophy of action based on internal motivation, team cohesion, and respect for desire. An essential conference for managers, HR directors, and leaders searching for meaning and collective mobilization.
Is capitalism moral? – Ethics, economy and business
- Capitalism is everywhere, morality is in fashion, but their alliance remains shaky. In this lecture, André Comte-Sponville offers a clarification of the relationships between economics, ethics, and politics, refusing to confuse or mask their tensions.
- He distinguishes the legitimate interest of the company (profitability, market, competition) from the moral requirement (respect, integrity, solidarity). Business, he says, is not charity — but cannot be reduced to the law of the jungle. He analyzes the contemporary drifts of "markethics," this confusion between marketing strategy and real virtue.
- Far from dogmas and slogans, the lecture offers articulated thought: yes, morality is necessary in business — but it is not enough to regulate a system. He calls for individual and collective responsibility, where performance does not replace humanity.
- The lecturer ends with an open question: how to reconcile performance and solidarity? How to make profit a means, and not an end? A great moment of lucidity, intellectual honesty, and economic wisdom.
The spirit of atheism – A spirituality without God
- In a world torn between fundamentalism and nihilism, André Comte-Sponville offers a singular path: that of a secular spirituality, based on the love of freedom, of truth, and of humanity. This conference questions our relation to the sacred in a secularized society.
- He advocates for a mystique of immanence: eternity is not a promise after death, but an intensity lived in the present. He shows that the spirit can rise without religion, that one can meditate without believing, that atheism can be faithful to spiritual values.
- Through Epicurus, Spinoza, and Montaigne, he builds a wisdom of the real: to love, to think, to create without dogma, without church, but with requirement and respect. A spirituality for our time — open to the absolute, freed from the supernatural.
- The conference provokes deep reflection on tolerance, freedom of conscience, and secularism. In the face of the return of the religious or the spiritual void, this spirituality without God is an opportunity: that of a twenty-first century that is both enlightened and fraternal.
What values for the 21st century? – Philosophy of courage and loyalty
- In this conference, André Comte-Sponville explores the moral and cultural foundations of our civilization in the face of the clash of cultures and identity crises. He questions the universal value of civilizations and the future of the post-Christian West.
- Far from any nostalgia, he advocates for an enlightened fidelity: to revisit the inherited values — freedom, secularism, responsibility — in order to better reinvent them. He emphasizes that the secularism should not be confused with hatred of the religious, but thought of as a demanding love of freedom.
- The speaker invites us to build a spiritual AND secular 21st century, based on a wisdom of our common humanity. He opposes the creative fidelity to the identity clean slate — so that our culture remains alive and not frozen.
- This conference is a meditation on what makes sense, what connects us, and what deserves to be transmitted. It provokes a deep reflection in institutions, organizations, or communities in search of identity and cohesion.
From the risk of living to the caution of acting – Philosophy of courage and discernment
- Our company, aging and anxious, cultivates an increasing aversion to risk. In this talk, Comte-Sponville raises the question: how can we reconcile safety and freedom? How can we develop an ethics of courage without denying caution?
- Through a style that is both profound and accessible, he examines the reality of the inherent danger in any life. "Zero risk" does not exist — and it is life itself that exposes us. Hence the necessity of courage to face reality, and of caution to limit its perils.
- He clarifies the precautionary principle, often misunderstood as a call for inaction, and places it back within a logic of lucid trust. To act is to walk with assurance, not to wait for everything to be perfect.
- Between ancient wisdom, Cartesian thought, and modern challenges, this lecture offers a philosophical framework to those who must make decisions in uncertainty — leaders, elected officials, entrepreneurs or responsible citizens.
Globalization and Civilizations – A Wisdom for Our Time!
- The "clash of civilizations" stirs the minds and causes re geopolitical tensions. André Comte-Sponville offers here a philosophical reflection on this clash of cultural models. Do all civilizations hold equal value? Can we judge without falling into ethnocentrism?
- He shows that secularism, pluralism, and fidelity to human rights form a non-negotiable foundation, without which no open society can last. He distinguishes between relativism and respect, between fundamentalism and spirituality, between norms and values.
- His aim is to strengthen intercultural dialogue by transcending stereotypes. He urges us to remember where we come from in order to better know where we are going — revisiting great traditions, historical ruptures, and invisible inheritances.
- This conference offers guidelines for the globalized world, international institutions, multicultural communities, and companies open to the world. It invites a global wisdom, humble and fruitful.