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Finkielkraut, Alain
3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Defending freedom of expression
The daily has published an appeal in support of Robert Redeker signed by a score of public figures. "A handful of fanatics is currently brandishing so-called religious laws in order to call into question our country's most fundamental freedoms. This threat comes in addition to the mutterings here and there in Europe that provocation should be avoided to spare supposed foreign sensibilities ... Times are once again hard in Europe. This is no time for cowardice. We therefore solemnly appeal to the authorities not only to continue to protect, as they already are doing, Robert Redeker and his family, but, in a strong political gesture, to pledge to meet his material needs as long as he is danger, just as the British authorities did throughout the duration of the Rushdie affair."
» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » France
All available articles from » Alexandre Adler, » Pascal Bruckner, » Laure Adler, » Elisabeth Badinter, » Michel Deguy, » Raphaël Draï, » Roger-Pol Droit, » Elisabeth De Fontenay, » François George, » André Glucksmann, » André Grjebine, » Claude Lanzmann, » Corinne Lepage, » Bernard-Henri Levy, » Olivier Rolin, » Elisabeth Roudinesco, » Guy Sorman, » Pierre-André Taguieff, » Michel Taubmann, » Philippe Val, » Marc Weitzmann
Europe in a celebratory mood?
In a special supplement French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut explains to Jürg Altwegg why he opposes the idea of Turkey joining the EU. "Anyone who opposes Turkey's accession for reasons of history or geographic affiliation is labeled a racist since he is supposedly committing a blasphemy against the religion of human rights. And that's considered dangerous. I think in different terms. I've been influenced by writers and philosophers from central Europe who have shown me just how valuable and endangered the treasures of European culture are. The price of the torment that Europe unleashed on the 20th century should not be Europe's amorphousness. The past is not solely an example of something that must now be avoided. Those who feel bound to the best of their own traditions and act accordingly are not bad people. The ostensibly so generous religion of human rights forgets that the crimes of Auschwitz do not affect the entire world."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Europe
Fanaticism in a time of globalisation
"We now find ourselves facing the globalisation of hatred," observes the French philsopher Alain Finkielkraut. "An uninvited guest has shown up at the banquet of Those Without Borders: after doctors, pharmacists, nurses, lawyers and reporters, it is now the turn of fanatics without borders. ... Only a tiny minority of those who, from Pakistan to Algeria, are demonstrating against the cartoons published in the Copenhagen daily 'Jyllands-Posten' would be able to locate Denmark on a map! But why should geography matter! In the age of the Internet, everyone is everywhere, we are all angels. It's the pits". He also points out that "those who fight free speech in the name of respecting their beliefs scorn the beliefs of others and do not shy away from making it known".
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More from the press review on the subject » Society, » Global
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