INTERVIEW
"This time was announced to us as long from the start," said Michel Onfray, guest of Europe 1, Sunday. "I thought it was a time to invest over a long period, to learn a language, a musical instrument ... But I thought we could also say: let's discover philosophy". The philosopher, founder of web TV michelonfray.com has decided to support French people living in confined space by making available, on his site, videos of lectures given at his popular university.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation
Philosophy bac program
"I worked for free in this popular university which consisted in giving philosophy for free to the greatest number," he explains. "When I discovered that the high school students would be confined to their homes and that they would have to pass their bac and the philosopher's test, I asked my sound editor to freely put all the courses concerning the philosophy program on our website".
If this initiative primarily concerned high school students, Michel Onfray believes that it is likely to interest the greatest number. "It was our contribution to the containment of high school students, and we thought that people who wanted to do philosophy independently from high school could also benefit from it."
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Can France hope for a more favorable scenario than Italy?
> Are women and people with blood type O more resistant?
> Are certain serious forms linked to a genetic factor?
> How will the distribution of masks take place in France?
> Back to school on May 11: under what conditions?
> How to keep sleep during confinement?
"Philosophy is for anyone who wants to take it"
For this, Michel Onfray gives only one piece of advice to the listeners of Europe 1: take a pen. "Any reading you do without taking notes is a lost reading," says the philosopher. "You keep 80% of what you read, then 60%, then 15%, and after two years, you only have 3% of what you have read," he explains. "If on the other hand you read with a pen or a computer, you will memorize more and better, it will last longer and you will make better use of reading".
So stay three weeks to get into philosophy. "It requires time, energy and a method, I offer mine," continues Michel Onfray. "Read, look. It's likely to be for you: philosophy is for anyone who wants to take it."
>> Find Fabienne Le Moal's midday journal in replay and podcast here