Paris – Sorbonne
Dec. 7-8, 2026
organized by David Lemler and Ynon Wygoda and the Network for European Philosophy and the Jewish Tradition
This conference aims to explore the renewed interest in the figure of the prophet during the “long twentieth century,” a period marked by the crisis of humanism and the collapse of modernity’s grand narratives. Situated at the intersection of revelation, history, and ethics, the prophet emerges as a figure irreducible to classical philosophical rationality, yet one that persistently challenges it.
As a mode of discourse grounded in heteronomy rather than autonomy, prophecy calls into question philosophy’s claim to self-grounding reason and its sovereign access to truth, meaning, and normativity. In this sense, prophecy functions as “anti-philosophy” to use Alain Badiou’s language: not as an abandonment of thought, but as a radical contestation of philosophy’s self-conception as an autonomous and totalizing discourse. But the prophet, intervening in the political, moral and normative can also be viewed as the representative of a rationality that is complementary to theoretical reason.
The figure of the prophet has thus been mobilized both as a vehicle for a radical critique of philosophy and as a source for the renewal of philosophical thinking from within.
Between these two poles, the conference seeks to shed new light on the role of prophecy in an internal critique of Western thought since the late nineteenth century. To what extent is prophecy internal to Western philosophy? And what does “Western” still mean when confronted with the shared yet contested horizon of the three monotheistic traditions? It will also be necessary to examine the concept of “anti-philosophy”: what strategic role does it play in defining philosophy itself?
A broad constellation of thinkers drawing on Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources will be addressed: from figures engaged in the crisis of humanism and liberalism in the early twentieth century, particularly in Germany and France (Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Strauss, Louis Massignon, Étienne Gilson, among others), to later developments within the Eranos circle (Gershom Scholem, Henri Corbin), and the postwar period, including figures of the “Paris School of Jewish Thought,” especially André Neher, in dialogue with Christian thinkers such as Paul Ricoeur. Other references to the figure of the prophet can also be found in critiques of modern universalism, from liberation theologies to postcolonial critiques of secularization.
The two-day conference will bring together approximately fifteen scholars and will take place in Paris (Sorbonne University) on Dec 7-8, 2026. The conference languages will be English and French.
Click here to download the conference description in French and in English.