Historical Reflections of Edgar Morin

An activist in his teens in favor of the Spanish Republic, a member of the French resistance against libertarian anti-fascism and a militant during the ten-year search (1941-1951) of the Communist Party of France (of which he was a dissident, resulting in his expulsion), his prolific life as a man of action and devotion de Morin has achieved great success as a thinker, investigator, professor and cultural agitator in more than seventy books and numerous journals.

From 1977 to 2004 imprint in six volumes Methodup great workpublished in Spain Cátedra. According to the advice of psychologist Jean Piaget Morin sponsored “complete idea”whose goal is the creation of a humanism that places man at the center of the recognition of the totality of reality, the fruit of the interaction between the individual, the world and the observer who analyzes and must analyze himself.

So he was convinced—and we were convinced—of all considerations of historical fact it cannot be done from the only previous ideas or from a single discipline, in the way that Morin brought together in this multidisciplinary and complex thought, sociology, philosophy, history, economics, politics, science, ecology, culture, religion…

PASADO. Taurus edited Morin’s latest book, which came out last year, Lessons from historywith the subtitle de Can we learn from our past?clear, simple, instructive and highly recommended breviary, a pedagogical development of their knowledge and reflections on history.

“Lecciones de la Historia” is a simple and instructive breviary of knowledge

It is organized into ten chapters, corresponding to many other lessons, the titles of which in most cases clearly announce the conclusion of its content.

Here are some: the outcome of the action may be contrary to your original intention; no observation is valid without self-observation; it might have happened improbably; the causes of historical accounts are always multiple and never explained; myths have a great influence on history; the nation is a recent invention; the rationality of history is usually a rationalization retroactively; sometimes destroyers are also great civilizers; a single individual can change the course of history; there is no more than a step from enthusiastic adherence to rebellion; material progress is not accompanied by any moral progress, or wars are a combination of chance and determinism. Are you up for it, curious readers?

GLOSSARY. Beyond the myths, as you said, Morin pays important attention historical paper of heroesabout saints – not necessarily canonical – about religions and imaginations. The chapters are, in keeping with the summary of the book, short, concise and always very clear, they are as numerous as the numerous highlighting of historical hits and figures from each era, as well as the relevant glosses that led to this thesis.

About the wars between Atenas and those they lost in the two world wars, going through the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the French and Russian revolutions or the protagonism of Christianity, Islam and Judaism in historical development, Morin considers and analyzes numerous aspects of its protagonistsel rey Juan Carlos I, entre ellos.

And here we must not forget that Morin protein has always been there great interest in cinema – rent an ensayo Cinema or imaginary man (1956) – and which, including, he co-directed with Jean Rouch Chronicle of a real man (1961) –está en Filmin–, documentary fundament del influyente cinema-vérité.