“The discoveries made over the last few years in the life sciences cannot be disregarded. Philosophers cannot shut themselves up in their ivory towers, just as biologists cannot ignore the philosophical repercussions that are raised practically every day by their research. This is the challenge we have taken up in the present work: to initiate one another, as well as the reader, to the fundamental issues of both our subjects, and to approach one of the most crucial questions of modern thought: the status of humanity within Nature.” Luc Ferry and Jean-Didier Vincent.


Luc Ferry is a philosopher and President of the Conseil National des Programmes. He is the author of Le Nouvel Ordre écologique and L’Homme-Dieu ou le sens de la vie, and the co-author with André Comte-Sponville of La Sagesse des modernes.
Jean-Didier Vincent teaches at the Institut Universitaire de France, and heads the Institut Alfred-Fessard at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He is the author of Biologie des passions and La Chair et le Diable.