The Doctrinal of Sapience was a politically radical philosophy journal published in the 1970s by some of the figures who would eventually become professors at Paris 8. Patrice Vermeren, Stéphane Douailler, and Georges Navet, young philosophy teachers at the time, were among its editors. Between 1975 and 1979, six issues came out, full of critical takes on French education, psychoanalytic takes on the student-teacher relationship, a groundbreaking article by Michèle Le Doeuff on the history of women in philosophy, a critique of colonial philosophy in Africa by Abdoulaye Elimane Kane, a wide range of letters and interviews about the philosophical profession in France, and occasional comedy, such as a satirical illustrated history of “philosophy occidentalis.” The same community of authors went on to publish several anthologies in the 1980s on the politics and history of French philosophy teaching, notably Les crimes de la philosophie (1983), La grève des philosophes (1986), and La philosophie saisie par l’état (1988).
Thanks to Patrice Vermeren, who has kept the full run of the whole publication, I can include here the full texts of the journal.
- Le Doctrinal de Sapience, n° 1 (winter 1975)
- Le Doctrinal de Sapience, n° 2 (spring 1976)
- Le Doctrinal de Sapience, n° 3 (spring 1977)
- Le Doctrinal de Sapience, n° 4 (autumn 1978)
- Le Doctrinal de Sapience, n° 5 (winter 1978)
- Le Doctrinal de Sapience, n° 6 (1979)
- Méditations touchant l'institution philosophique (1979)
I am not in a position to translate it all.