Bernard Groethuysen (1880–1946)

German-French philosopher and historian of ideas (Berlin-trained, naturalized French 1937). Author of Origines de l'esprit bourgeois en France (Gallimard 1927) and Mythes et portraits (Gallimard 1947); long-time editor at the Nouvelle Revue Française. Chief commentator-source for MP's PPH course (1947–48) on Hegel's State — via his 1924 NRF article "La conception de l'État de Hegel et la philosophie politique en Allemagne." Groethuysen died (1946) just before MP's PPH course; MP's choice to use the 1924 article rather than Hyppolite's contemporaneous work is one of the philological keys to dating the PPH course to 1947–48.

Key Points

  • Born 1880 Berlin; doctorate Berlin 1904 (with Dilthey); long career in France from 1924; naturalized French 1937.
  • Origines de l'esprit bourgeois en France (Gallimard, 1927) — the principal historical-sociological work; engages with Weber on Protestantism and capitalism.
  • Anthropologie philosophique (1928 in German; never published in his lifetime in French; appears posthumously) — the principal philosophical work.
  • Long-time editor at NRF (Nouvelle Revue Française); the structural figure of NRF's philosophical orientation between Gide and Paulhan.
  • "La conception de l'État de Hegel et la philosophie politique en Allemagne" (Revue philosophique, 1924) — the article MP uses extensively in PPH I "Le rationalisme de Hegel" for the historical-conceptual treatment of Hegel's State.

Role in This Wiki

The PPH choice of Groethuysen over Hyppolite

MP's 1947–48 PPH course quotes Groethuysen extensively for the historical study of Hegel's Principles of the Philosophy of Right. Dalissier highlights this as a methodological choice in the editorial introduction (pp. 78–79):

"Une telle référence mérite d'être soulignée. Plutôt qu'il n'était spécialiste de Hegel stricto sensu, B. Groethuysen (1880–1946) était un grand connaisseur de la pensée allemande. Ce personnage éminent de la société intellectuelle franco-allemande de cette époque, lequel jouait un rôle-clé à la Nouvelle Revue Française, venait de décéder peu avant la période estimée du cours. Or, Merleau-Ponty ne le cite semble-t-il jamais ailleurs, même s'il possédait plusieurs de ses ouvrages, dont un annoté."

Three reasons MP chose Groethuysen 1924 over Hyppolite (whose Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire de Hegel would only appear in 1948 — after the PPH course):

  1. Chronological: Hyppolite's work is not yet available; Groethuysen's 1924 article is available and was annotated in MP's library.
  2. Methodological: Groethuysen's article is historical-conceptual — it traces the political reception of Hegel in Germany through the 19th century. This serves MP's PPH II/III interest in Hegel-to-Marx-to-marxism better than a purely philosophical commentary.
  3. Structural: Groethuysen had recently died (March 1946); MP may also have wished to honor a deceased colleague. The choice is partly generational respect — Groethuysen is to MP what Bréhier (Sorbonne professor) had been: a Franco-German bridge figure.

The dating-anchor function

The fact that MP cites Groethuysen 1924 but not Hyppolite 1948 in the PPH course is one of Dalissier's principal arguments for dating the course to 1947–48 rather than 1948–49 or later. Hyppolite's Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire would have been the natural reference if available; its absence localizes the course to before its publication.

MP's general silence on Groethuysen elsewhere

MP cites Groethuysen only in PPH and never elsewhere. This singular use is itself characteristic: MP's references in PPH are narrowly chosen — Kojève (once), Hyppolite (only as translator), Groethuysen (extensively). The PPH course is not a comprehensive review of Hegel-scholarship; it is MP's direct engagement with the Hegel text, mediated by a few selective sources. Groethuysen's absence from the broader corpus reflects this selective citational economy.

Connections

  • NRF editor and contemporary of Gide, Paulhan, Malraux.
  • NB-philological-anchor for PPH dating — his absence from MP's later corpus and his singular use in PPH localize the course to 1947–48.
  • contemporary of Dilthey (his teacher) and Weber (whose work he engaged with).
  • parallel intellectual figure to Cassirer in the Franco-German bridge function.

Sources

  • merleau-ponty-2022-inedits-ii-1947-1949 — Dalissier editorial introduction (pp. 78–79) on Groethuysen's role in PPH; PPH I extensively quotes Groethuysen 1924 for Hegel's State analysis.
  • B. Groethuysen, "La conception de l'État de Hegel et la philosophie politique en Allemagne" (Revue philosophique, 1924).
  • B. Groethuysen, Origines de l'esprit bourgeois en France (Gallimard, 1927) — the principal historical-sociological work.