Listen to the dead with your eyes: Victor Delbos’s historiographic-philosophical proposal

Authors

  • Lucas Vinicius Corrêa Rodrigues Universidade de São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18764/2675-8369v3n2e26973

Keywords:

History of philosophy, Roger Chartier, Victor Delbos, Relations of domination

Abstract

This article revisits Victor Delbos' historiographical-philosophical proposal in light of Roger Chartier's imperative to “listen to the dead with our eyes”. Focusing on fundamental texts from 1917- 18, the article presents Delbos' answers to the central questions: what is meant by philosophy? (1) What
is the history of philosophy? (2) What is its method? (3). It starts from Delbos' conception that philosophy is born of the “anguish of truth”, as an effort to totalize knowledge and respond to the enigma of the human spirit. For him, the history of philosophy is not mere archaeology, but a form of intellectual resurrection, capable of articulating philosophical works as partial expressions of an ideal interiority of
the human spirit. This perspective culminates in his proposal for a “metaphysical animism”, in which
philosophical systems reveal not only ideas, but also the inner life of their authors. The article also shows
how Delbos' conception of the history of philosophy is centered on the reversibility between philosophy and its history.

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References

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Published

2026-02-04

How to Cite

RODRIGUES, Lucas Vinicius Corrêa.
Listen to the dead with your eyes: Victor Delbos’s historiographic-philosophical proposal
. Barricadas: Revista de Filosofia e Interdisciplinaridade, v. 3, n. 2, p. 1–15, 4 Feb. 2026 Disponível em: https://cajapio.ufma.br/index.php/barricadas/article/view/26973. Acesso em: 14 mar. 2026.

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