112-544: Gaston Bachelard ( / b æ ʃ ə ˈ l ɑːr / ; French: [baʃlaʁ] ; 27 June 1884 – 16 October 1962) was a French philosopher . He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science . To the latter, he introduced the concepts of epistemological obstacle and epistemological break ( obstacle épistémologique and rupture épistémologique ). He influenced many subsequent French philosophers, among them Michel Foucault , Louis Althusser , Dominique Lecourt and Jacques Derrida , as well as
224-553: A nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture , history , and language , identified with the country of France . The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from northern and central France, are primarily descended from Romans (or Gallo-Romans , western European Celtic and Italic peoples ), Gauls (including the Belgae ), as well as Germanic peoples such as
336-646: A community of French Huguenots settled in South Africa . Most of these originally settled in the Cape Colony , but have since been quickly absorbed into the Afrikaner population. After Champlain's founding of Quebec City in 1608, it became the capital of New France . Encouraging settlement was difficult, and while some immigration did occur, by 1763 New France only had a population of some 65,000. From 1713 to 1787, 30,000 colonists immigrated from France to
448-789: A courtesy. American and British veterans who served in either World War on French soil, or during the 1944 campaigns to liberate France, may be eligible for appointment as Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, provided they were still living when the honour was approved. Collective appointments can be made to cities, institutions or companies. A total of 64 settlements in France have been decorated, as well as six foreign cities: Liège in 1914, Belgrade in 1920, Luxembourg City in 1957, Volgograd (the World War II 'Stalingrad') in 1984, Algiers in 2004, and London in 2020. French towns display
560-479: A façade to give political favours, gifts, and concessions. The Légion d'honneur was loosely patterned after a Roman legion , with legionaries , officers , commanders, regional " cohorts " and a grand council. The highest rank was not a Grand Cross but a Grand aigle (Grand Eagle), a rank that wore the insignia common to a Grand Cross. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously: Napoleon famously declared, "You call these baubles, well, it
672-613: A job in October as a professor of physics and chemistry at the college of Bar-sur-Aube . At the age of thirty-six he began a completely unexpected philosophical career. Starting decisively in 1922, he acquired the title of Doctor of Letters at the Sorbonne in 1927. His theses, supported by Abel Rey and Léon Brunschvicg , were published. He became a lecturer at the Faculty of Letters of Dijon from October 1927, but remained at
784-489: A larger framework. Bachelard never saw how seemingly irrational theories often simply represented a drastic shift in scientific perspective. For instance, he never claimed that the theory of probabilities was just another way of complexifying reality through a deepening of rationality (even though critics like Lord Kelvin found this theory irrational). One of his main theses in The New Scientific Mind
896-570: A majority of French people had other first languages (local languages such as Occitan , Catalan , Alsatian , West Flemish , Lorraine Franconian , Gallo , Picard or Ch'timi and Arpitan ). Today, many immigrants speak another tongue at home. According to historian Eric Hobsbawm , "the French language has been essential to the concept of 'France'," although in 1789, 50 percent of the French people did not speak it at all, and only 12 to 13 percent spoke it fairly well; even in oïl languages zones, it
1008-555: A new system of nobility. However, the Légion d'honneur did use the organization of the old French orders of chivalry, for example, the Ordre de Saint-Louis . The insignia of the Légion d'honneur bear a resemblance to those of the Ordre de Saint-Louis , which also used a red ribbon. Napoleon originally created this award to ensure political loyalty. The organization would be used as
1120-840: Is Honneur et Patrie ("Honour and Fatherland"); its seat is the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur next to the Musée d'Orsay , on the left bank of the Seine in Paris . Since 1 February 2023, the Order's grand chancellor has been retired General François Lecointre , who succeeded fellow retired General Benoît Puga in office. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction: Chevalier ( Knight ), Officier (Officer), Commandeur ( Commander ), Grand officier (Grand Officer) and Grand-croix ( Grand Cross ). During
1232-433: Is also widely spoken, arguably the largest minority language in France as of the 21st century (a spot previously held by Breton and Occitan ). Modern French society is a melting pot . From the middle of the 19th century, it experienced a high rate of inward migration , mainly consisting of Spaniards , Portuguese , Italians , Arab-Berbers , Jews , Sub-Saharan Africans , Chinese , and other peoples from Africa ,
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#17327826890801344-435: Is an object of scientific thought… an example of an abstract-concrete object." To understand the way it works, one has to take the detour of scientific knowledge. Epistemology is thus not a general philosophy that aims at justifying scientific reasoning. Instead, it produces regional histories of science . In addition to epistemology, Bachelard's work deals with many other topics, including poetry, dreams, psychoanalysis , and
1456-741: Is developed by his student Gilbert Durand . His works include: Though most of Bachelard's major works on poetics have been translated into English, only about half of his works on the philosophy of science have been translated. Bachelard influenced many subsequent French philosophers, among them Michel Foucault , Louis Althusser , Dominique Lecourt and Jacques Derrida , as well as the sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Bruno Latour . French people France: 67,413,000 French diaspora and ancestry : c. 30 million Asia Middle East Europe North America South America Oceania The French people ( French : Les Français , lit. 'The French') are
1568-623: Is estimated that 20,000 settlers were living in Saigon in 1945, and there were 68,430 European settlers living in Madagascar in 1958. 1.6 million European pieds noirs settlers migrated from Algeria , Tunisia and Morocco . In just a few months in 1962, 900,000 pied noir settlers left Algeria in the most massive relocation of population in Europe since the World War II . In
1680-399: Is happening as part of a background evolution and recent studies confirmed the results of their assimilation, showing that "North Africans seem to be characterized by a high degree of cultural integration reflected in a relatively high propensity to exogamy " with rates ranging from 20% to 50%. According to Emmanuel Todd the relatively high exogamy among French Algerians can be explained by
1792-788: Is headed by the Grand Chancellor ( grand chancelier ), usually a retired general, as well as the Secretary-General ( secrétaire général ), a civilian administrator. The Grand Chancery also regulates the National Order of Merit and the médaille militaire (Military Medal). There are several structures funded by and operated under the authority of the Grand Chancery, like the Legion of Honour Schools ( Maisons d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur ) and
1904-498: Is my home". Indeed, the country has long valued its openness , tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries (for instance, this is the case with Switzerland : one can be both French and Swiss). The European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in
2016-602: Is such a thing as a "French ethnic group". The discourse of ethno-nationalist groups such as the Front National (FN), however, advances the concept of Français de souche or "indigenous" French. The conventional conception of French history starts with Ancient Gaul, and French national identity often views the Gauls as national precursors, either as biological ancestors (hence the refrain nos ancêtres les Gaulois ), as emotional/spiritual ancestors, or both. Vercingetorix ,
2128-513: Is therefore not primitive, but built (VI, 2). These themes led Bachelard to support a sort of constructivist epistemology . Bachelard was a rationalist in the Cartesian sense, although he recommended his "non-Cartesian epistemology" as a replacement for the more standard Cartesian epistemology. He compared "scientific knowledge" to ordinary knowledge in the way we deal with it, and saw error as only illusion: "Scientifically, one thinks truth as
2240-509: Is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French, with effects including loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes, and influences in conjugation and word order. Today, the last redoubt of Celtic language in France can be found in
2352-507: Is thus impossible to examine an immobile thing, which was precisely the condition for knowledge according to the classical theory of knowledge (Becoming being impossible to be known, in accordance with Aristotle and Plato 's theories of knowledge ). In non-Cartesian epistemology, there is no "simple substance" as in Cartesianism , but only complex objects built by theories and experiments and continuously improved (VI, 4). Intuition
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#17327826890802464-412: Is with baubles that men are led... Do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning? Never. That is good only for the scholar in his study. The soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards." This has been often quoted as "It is with such baubles that men are led." Napoleon was also occasionally noted after a battle to ask who the bravest man in a regiment was, and upon the regiment declaring
2576-544: Is worn by the Grand Cross (in gilt on the left chest) and the Grand Officer (in silver on the right chest) respectively; it is similar to the badge, but without enamel, and with the wreath replaced by a cluster of rays in between each arm. The central disc features the head of Marianne , surrounded by the legend République Française ('French Republic') and the motto Honneur et Patrie . The ribbon for
2688-502: The Hôtel de Salm , headquarters of the Légion d'honneur , was burned to the ground in fierce street combats; the archives of the order were lost. In the second term of President Jules Grévy , which started in 1885, newspaper journalists brought to light the trafficking of Grévy's son-in-law, Daniel Wilson, in the awarding of decorations of the Légion d'honneur . Grévy was not accused of personal participation in this scandal, but he
2800-580: The Légion , for "eminent merit" ( mérites éminents ) in military or civil life. In practice, in current usage, the order is conferred on entrepreneurs, high-level civil servants , scientists, artists, including famous actors and actresses, sport champions , and others with connections in the executive . Members of the French Parliament cannot receive the order, except for valour in war, and ministers are not allowed to nominate their accountants. Until 2008, French nationals could only enter
2912-512: The Légion d'honneur among his family and his senior ministers. This collar was abolished in 1815. Although research is made difficult by the loss of the archives, it is rumoured that three women who fought with the army were decorated with the order: Virginie Ghesquière , Marie-Jeanne Schelling and a nun , Sister Anne Biget . The Légion d'honneur was prominent and visible in the French Empire. The Emperor always wore it, and
3024-410: The Légion d'honneur . All previous orders were Christian, or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion d'honneur is a secular institution. The badge of the Légion d'honneur has five arms. In a decree issued on the 10 Pluviôse XIII (30 January 1805), a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a large sash and a silver star with an eagle, symbol of
3136-638: The Americas , with the exception of the Huguenots , due to a lower birthrate than in the rest of Europe. However, significant emigration of mainly Roman Catholic French populations led to the settlement of the Province of Acadia , Canada (New France) and Louisiana , all (at the time) French possessions, as well as colonies in the West Indies , Mascarene islands and Africa . On 30 December 1687,
3248-525: The Danelaw in the region known today as Normandy in the 9th and 10th centuries. This later became a fiefdom of the Kingdom of France under King Charles III . The Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process. The Normans, two centuries later, went on to conquer England and Southern Italy . Eventually, though, the largely autonomous Duchy of Normandy
3360-550: The Fourth Republic in 1946 brought about the latest change in the design of the Legion of Honour. The date "1870" on the obverse was replaced by a single star. No changes were made after the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958. The Legion of Honour is a national order of France, meaning a public incorporated body. The Legion is regulated by a civil law code , the "Code of the Legion of Honour and of
3472-1169: The Franks , the Visigoths , the Suebi and the Burgundians who settled in Gaul from east of the Rhine after the fall of the Roman Empire , as well as various later waves of lower-level irregular migration that have continued to the present day. The Norsemen also settled in Normandy in the 10th century and contributed significantly to the ancestry of the Normans . Furthermore, regional ethnic minorities also exist within France that have distinct lineages, languages and cultures such as Bretons in Brittany , Occitans in Occitania , Basques in
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3584-865: The French Basque Country , Catalans in northern Catalonia , Germans in Alsace , Corsicans in Corsica and Flemings in French Flanders . France has long been a patchwork of local customs and regional differences, and while most French people still speak the French language as their mother tongue , languages like Picard , Poitevin-Saintongeais , Franco-Provencal , Occitan , Catalan , Auvergnat , Corsican , Basque , French Flemish , Lorraine Franconian , Alsatian , Norman , and Breton remain spoken in their respective regions. Arabic
3696-568: The French Constitution , according to which "French" is a nationality , and not a specific ethnicity. France sits at the edge of the European peninsula and has seen waves of migration of groups that often settled owing to the presence of physical barriers preventing onward migration. This has led to language and regional cultural variegation, but the extent to which this pattern of migrations showed up in population genetics studies
3808-544: The French Revolution , all of the French orders of chivalry were abolished and replaced with weapons of honour . It was the wish of Napoleon Bonaparte , the First Consul , to create a reward to commend civilians and soldiers. From this wish was instituted a Légion d'honneur , a body of men that was not an order of chivalry , for Napoleon believed that France wanted a recognition of merit rather than
3920-548: The French West Indies ( French Caribbean ), and in foreign countries with significant French-speaking population groups or not, such as the United States ( French Americans ), Canada ( French Canadians ), Argentina ( French Argentines ), Brazil ( French Brazilians ), Mexico ( French Mexicans ), Chile ( French Chileans ) and Uruguay ( French Uruguayans ). To be French, according to
4032-475: The Industrial Revolution . The pace of industrial growth attracted millions of European immigrants over the next century, with especially large numbers arriving from Poland , Belgium , Portugal , Italy , and Spain . In the period from 1915 to 1950, many immigrants came from Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Russia , Scandinavia and Yugoslavia . Small but significant numbers of Frenchmen in
4144-472: The Legion of Honour Museum ( Musée de la Légion d'honneur ). The Legion of Honour Schools are élite boarding schools in Saint-Denis and Camp des Loges in the forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye . Study there is restricted to daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters of members of the order, the médaille militaire or the ordre national du Mérite . There are five classes in
4256-691: The Middle East and East Asia , and the government, defining France as an inclusive nation with universal values, advocated assimilation through which immigrants were expected to adhere to French values and cultural norms. Nowadays, while the government has let newcomers retain their distinctive cultures since the mid-1980s and requires from them a mere integration , French citizens still equate their nationality with citizenship as does French law. In addition to mainland France, French people and people of French descent can be found internationally, in overseas departments and territories of France such as
4368-677: The Saint-Domingue . In 1805, when the French were forced out of Saint-Domingue ( Haiti ), 35,000 French settlers were given lands in Cuba . By the beginning of the 17th century, some 20% of the total male population of Catalonia was made up of French immigrants. In the 18th century and early 19th century, a small migration of French emigrated by official invitation of the Habsburgs to the Austro-Hungarian Empire , now
4480-543: The United States Census , French people are not asked to define their ethnic appartenance, whichever it may be. The usage of ethnic and racial categorization is avoided to prevent any case of discrimination; the same regulations apply to religious membership data that cannot be compiled under the French Census. This classic French republican non- essentialist conception of nationality is officialized by
4592-606: The University of Paris . On 25 August 1937 he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor . He became a professor at the Sorbonne from 1940 to 1954. He held the chair of the history and philosophy of science, where he succeeded Abel Rey, director of the Institute of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHST), which in 1992 became IHPST. When he was appointed to the Sorbonne as a university professor and director of
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4704-434: The imagination . The Psychoanalysis of Fire (1938) and The Poetics of Space (1958) are among the most popular of his works: Jean-Paul Sartre cites the former and Bachelard's Water and Dreams in his Being and Nothingness (1943), and the latter had a wide reception in architectural theory circles, and continues to be influential in literary theory and creative writing. In philosophy, this nocturnal side of his work
4816-401: The 1789 French Revolution . It replaced the ancient kingdom of France, ruled by the divine right of kings . The 1870 Franco-Prussian War , which led to the short-lived Paris Commune of 1871, was instrumental in bolstering patriotic feelings; until World War I (1914–1918), French politicians never completely lost sight of the disputed Alsace-Lorraine region which played a major role in
4928-590: The 1970s, over 30,000 French settlers left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime as the Pol Pot government confiscated their farms and land properties. In the 1960s, a second wave of immigration came to France, which was needed for reconstruction purposes and for cheaper labour after the devastation brought on by World War II . French entrepreneurs went to Maghreb countries looking for cheap labour, thus encouraging work-immigration to France. Their settlement
5040-465: The 35,000 to 38,000 members. The images of Napoleon and his eagle were removed and replaced by the image of King Henry IV , the popular first king of the Bourbon line. Three Bourbon fleurs-de-lys replaced the eagle on the reverse of the order. A king's crown replaced the imperial crown. In 1816, the grand cordons were renamed grand crosses and the legionnaires became knights. The king decreed that
5152-641: The 7th century BCE or earlier, and non-Celtic peoples including the Ligures , Aquitanians and Basques in Aquitaine. The Belgae , who lived in the northern and eastern areas, may have had Germanic admixture; many of these peoples had already spoken Gaulish by the time of the Roman conquest. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58–51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar , except for
5264-527: The Cross of a Knight of the Legion of Honour: The order has had five levels since the reign of King Louis XVIII, who restored the order in 1815. Since the reform, the following distinctions have existed: Due to the order's long history, and the remarkable fact that it has been retained by all subsequent governments and regimes since the First Empire, the order's design has undergone many changes. Although
5376-598: The Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France. The other major Germanic people to arrive in France, after the Burgundians and the Visigoths , were the Norsemen or Northmen . Known by the shortened name " Norman " in France, these were Viking raiders from modern Denmark and Norway . They settled with Anglo-Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons from
5488-540: The French Revolution, it divided social classes, with the peasants identifying with the native Gauls while the aristocracy identified with the Franks. During the early nineteenth century, intellectuals began using the identification with Gaul instead as a unifying force to bridge divisions within French society with a common national origin myth . Myriam Krepps of the University of Nebraska-Omaha argues that
5600-467: The French nation. The insignia were drastically altered; the cross now displayed tricolour flags . In 1847, there were 47,000 members. Yet another revolution in Paris (in 1848) brought a new republic (the second) and a new design to the Légion d'honneur . A nephew of the founder, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , was elected president and he restored the image of his uncle on the crosses of the order. In 1852,
5712-555: The Gaulish chieftain who tried to unite the various Gallic tribes of the land against Roman encroachment but was ultimately vanquished by Julius Caesar , is often revered as a "first national hero". In the famously popular French comic Asterix , the main characters are patriotic Gauls who fight against Roman invaders while in modern days the term Gaulois is used in French to distinguish the "native" French from French of immigrant origins. However, despite its occasional nativist usage,
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#17327826890805824-403: The Gaulish identity has also been embraced by French of non-native origins as well: notably, Napoleon III , whose family was ultimately of Corsican and Italian roots, identified France with Gaul and Vercingetorix, and declared that "New France, ancient France, Gaul are one and the same moral person." It has been noted that the French view of having Gallic origins has evolved over history. Before
5936-539: The Institute for the History of Science and Technology in 1940, he accompanied his daughter in her higher educations. In 1958, he became a member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium . Bachelard married Jeanne Rossi, a schoolteacher, in 1914. She was transferred to Voigny . His daughter Suzanne was born on 18 October. He travelled the six kilometers to Bar-sur-Aube on foot every day,
6048-449: The Legion of Honour at the class of Chevalier (Knight). To be promoted to a higher class, one had to perform new eminent services in the interest of France and a set number of years had to pass between appointment and promotion. This was however amended in 2008 when entry became possible at Officer, Commander and Grand Officer levels, as a recognition of "extraordinary careers" ( carrières hors du commun ). In 2009, Simone Veil became
6160-502: The Legion of Honour award for service is achieved after 20 years of meritorious service, having been awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Ordre National du Mérite . Bravery awards lessen the time needed for the award—in fact decorated servicemen become directly chevaliers of the Légion d'Honneur , skipping the Ordre du Mérite . NCOs almost never achieve that award, except for the most heavily decorated service members. Collective appointments can be made to military units. In
6272-412: The Legion of Honour: The "eminent merits" required to be awarded the order require the flawless performance of one's trade as well as doing more than ordinarily expected, such as being creative, zealous and contributing to the growth and well-being of others. The order has a maximum quota of 75 Grand Cross, 250 Grand Officers, 1,250 Commanders, 10,000 Officers, and 113,425 (ordinary) Knights. As of 2010,
6384-404: The Legion on 14 May 2017. The Grand Master appoints all other members of the order, on the advice of the French government. The Grand Master's insignia is the Grand Collar of the Legion. The President of the Republic, as Grand Master of the order, receives the Collar as part of his investiture, but the Grand Masters have not worn the Collar since Valéry Giscard d'Estaing . The Grand Chancery
6496-402: The Military Medal". While the President of the French Republic is the Grand Master of the order, day-to-day running is entrusted to the Grand Chancery ( Grande Chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur ). Since the establishment of the Legion, the Grand Master of the order has always been the Emperor, King or President of France. President Emmanuel Macron therefore became the Grand Master of
6608-495: The Napoleonic Empire, became known as the Grand aigle (Grand Eagle), and later in 1814 as the Grand cordon (big sash, literally "big ribbon"). After Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804 and established the Napoleonic nobility in 1808, award of the Légion d'honneur gave right to the title of "Knight of the Empire" ( Chevalier de l'Empire ). The title was made hereditary after three generations of grantees. Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of
6720-681: The North and Northeast regions have relatives in Germany and Great Britain . Between 1956 and 1967, about 235,000 North African Jews from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco also immigrated to France due to the decline of the French empire and following the Six-Day War. Hence, by 1968, Jews of North African origin comprised the majority of the Jewish population of France. As these new immigrants were already culturally French they needed little time to adjust to French society. French law made it easy for thousands of settlers ( colons in French), national French from former colonies of North and East Africa , India and Indochina to live in mainland France. It
6832-412: The Roman army and obtained important commands. Their language is still spoken as a kind of Dutch ( French Flemish ) in northern France ( French Flanders ). The Alamans , another Germanic people immigrated to Alsace , hence the Alemannic German now spoken there. The Alamans were competitors of the Franks, and their name is the origin of the French word for "German": Allemand . By the early 6th century,
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#17327826890806944-421: The US and the UK) but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration. Historically, the heritage of the French people is mostly of Celtic or Gallic , Latin ( Romans ) origin, descending from the ancient and medieval populations of Gauls or Celts from the Atlantic to the Rhone Alps , Germanic tribes that settled France from east of the Rhine and Belgium after
7056-426: The actual membership was 67 Grand Cross, 314 Grand Officers, 3,009 Commanders, 17,032 Officers and 74,384 Knights. Appointments of veterans of World War II , French military personnel involved in the North African Campaign and other foreign French military operations, as well as wounded soldiers, are made independently of the quota. Members convicted of a felony ( crime in French) are automatically dismissed from
7168-502: The award when it was offered to them. While membership in the Légion is technically restricted to French nationals, foreign nationals who have served France or the ideals it upholds may receive the honour. Foreign nationals who live in France are subject to the same requirements as the French. Foreign nationals who live abroad may be awarded a distinction of any rank or dignity in the Légion . Foreign heads of state and their spouses or consorts of monarchs are made Grand Cross as
7280-399: The basic shape and structure of the insignia has remained generally the same, the hanging device changed back and forth and France itself swung back and forth between republic and monarchy . The central disc in the centre has also changed to reflect the political system and leadership of France at the time. As each new regime came along the design was altered to become politically correct for
7392-414: The case of a military unit, its flag is decorated with the insignia of a knight, which is a different award from the fourragère . Twenty-one schools, mainly schools providing reserve officers during the World Wars, were awarded the Légion d'Honneur. Foreign military units can be decorated with the order, such as the U.S. Military Academy . The Flag or Standard of the following units was decorated with
7504-447: The centuries to France, creating a variegated grouping of peoples. Thus the historian John F. Drinkwater states, "The French are, paradoxically, strongly conscious of belonging to a single nation, but they hardly constitute a unified ethnic group by any scientific gauge." The modern French are the descendants of mixtures including Romans , Celts , Iberians , Ligurians and Greeks in southern France, Germanic peoples arriving at
7616-508: The college of Sézanne , but turned away from teaching to consider a career in telegraphy . Literary by training, he took the technological path before moving towards science and mathematics . In particular, he was fascinated by the great discoveries of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century ( radioactivity , quantum and wave mechanics , relativity , electromagnetism and wireless telegraphy ). Discharged in March 1919 and unemployed, Bachelard searched and obtained
7728-411: The college of Bar-sur-Aube until 1930. He even participated in the municipal elections of 1929 to defend the project of a college for all. He nevertheless accepted a professorship at the University of Burgundy when his daughter Suzanne entered the second degree. from 1930 to 1940 he was a professor at the University of Dijon and then was appointed chair in the history and philosophy of science at
7840-474: The colonial link between France and Algeria. A small French descent group also subsequently arrived from Latin America ( Argentina , Chile and Uruguay ) in the 1970s. Most French people speak the French language as their mother tongue , but certain languages like Norman , Occitan languages , Corsican , Euskara , French Flemish and Breton remain spoken in certain regions (see Language policy in France ). There have also been periods of history when
7952-414: The commandants were now commanders. The Légion d'honneur became the second-ranking order of knighthood of the French monarchy, after the Order of the Holy Spirit . Following the overthrow of the Bourbons in favour of King Louis Philippe I of the House of Orléans , the Bourbon monarchy's orders were once again abolished and the Légion d'honneur was restored in 1830 as the paramount decoration of
8064-600: The decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture: the Franks , from which the word "French" derives. The Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands and Germany between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Initially, they served in
8176-944: The decoration in their municipal coat of arms . Organisations to receive the honour include the French Red Cross ( Croix-Rouge Française ), the Abbaye de Nôtre-Dame des Dombes ( Abbey of Notre-Dame des Dombes ), the French National Railway Company ( SNCF , Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français ), the Préfecture de Police de la Ville de Paris ( Prefecture of Police of Paris ), and various Grandes Écoles (National (Elite) Colleges) and other educational establishments. The military distinctions ( Légion d'honneur à titre militaire ) are awarded for bravery ( actions de guerre ) or for service. For active-duty commissioned officers,
8288-425: The definition of the French nation and therefore of the French people. The decrees of 24 October 1870 by Adolphe Crémieux granted automatic and massive French citizenship to all Jewish people of Algeria. Successive waves of immigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries were rapidly assimilated into French culture . France's population dynamics began to change in the middle of the 19th century, as France joined
8400-476: The discontinuity at work in the history of sciences. However the term "epistemological break" itself is almost never used by Bachelard but became famous through Louis Althusser . He showed that new theories integrated old theories in new paradigms , changing the sense of concepts (for instance, the concept of mass , used by Newton and Einstein in two different senses). Thus, non-Euclidean geometry did not contradict Euclidean geometry , but integrated it into
8512-416: The end of the Roman Empire such as the Franks and the Burgundians , and some Vikings who mixed with the Normans and settled mostly in Normandy in the 9th century. According to Dominique Schnapper , "The classical conception of the nation is that of an entity which, opposed to the ethnic group, affirms itself as an open community, the will to live together expressing itself by the acceptation of
8624-473: The fall of the Roman Empire such as the Franks , Burgundians , Allemanni , Visigoths , and Suebi , Latin and Roman tribes such as Ligurians and Gallo-Romans , Basques , and Norse populations largely settling in Normandy at the beginning of the 10th century as well as " Bretons " (Celtic Britons) settling in Brittany in Western France . The name "France" etymologically derives from
8736-646: The fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time. The king of Sweden therefore declined the order; it was too common in his eyes. Napoleon's own decorations were captured by the Prussians and were displayed in the Zeughaus (armoury) in Berlin until 1945. Today, they are in Moscow. Louis XVIII changed the appearance of the order, but it was not abolished. To have done so would have angered
8848-728: The first American was admitted: Thomas Wiltberger Evans , dentist of Napoleon III. In 1870, the defeat of the French Imperial Army in the Franco-Prussian War brought the end of the Empire and the creation of the Third Republic (1871–1940). As France changed, the Légion d'honneur changed as well. The crown was replaced by a laurel and oak wreath. In 1871, during the Paris Commune uprising,
8960-560: The first article of the French Constitution , is to be a citizen of France, regardless of one's origin, race, or religion ( sans distinction d'origine, de race ou de religion ). According to its principles, France has devoted itself to the destiny of a proposition nation , a generic territory where people are bounded only by the French language and the assumed willingness to live together, as defined by Ernest Renan 's " plébiscite de tous les jours " ('everyday plebiscite') on
9072-611: The first person to enter the Order at Grand Officer level. Veil was a member of the Académie française , a former Health Minister and President of the European Parliament , as well as an Auschwitz survivor. She was promoted to Grand Cross in 2012. Every year at least five recipients decline the award. Even if they refuse to accept it, they are still included in the order's official membership. The composers Maurice Ravel and Charles Koechlin , for example, declined
9184-440: The first recorded woman, Angélique Duchemin , an old revolutionary of the 1789 uprising against the absolute monarchy, was admitted into the order. On 2 December 1851, President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte staged a coup d'état with the help of the armed forces. He made himself Emperor of the French exactly one year later on 2 December 1852, after a successful plebiscite . An Imperial crown was added. During Napoleon III 's reign,
9296-453: The head of Marianne , surrounded by the legend République Française on a blue enamel ring. The reverse central disc is also in gilt, with a set of crossed tricolores , surrounded by the Légion's motto Honneur et Patrie ('Honour and Fatherland') and its foundation date on a blue enamel ring. The badge is suspended by an enameled laurel and oak wreath. The star (or plaque )
9408-424: The historical rectification of a persistent error, and experiments as correctives for an initial, common illusion ( illusion première )." The role of epistemology is to show the history of the (scientific) production of concepts . Those concepts are not just theoretical propositions: they are simultaneously abstract and concrete , pervading technical and pedagogical activity. This explains why "The electric bulb
9520-542: The history and philosophy of science in such works as Le nouvel esprit scientifique ("The New Scientific Spirit", 1934) and La formation de l'esprit scientifique ("The Formation of the Scientific Mind", 1938) were based on his vision of historical epistemology as a kind of psychoanalysis of the scientific mind. In the English-speaking world , the connection Bachelard made between psychology and
9632-545: The history of science has been little understood. Bachelard demonstrated how the progress of science could be blocked by certain types of mental patterns, creating the concept of obstacle épistémologique ("epistemological obstacle"). One task of epistemology is to make clear the mental patterns at use in science, in order to help scientists overcome the obstacles to knowledge. Another goal is to “give back to human reason its function of agitation and aggressiveness” as Bachelard put it in ‘L'engagement rationaliste’ (1972). Bachelard
9744-536: The individual, the Emperor would take the Legion d'Honneur from his own coat and pin it on the chest of the man. The order was the first modern order of merit . Under the monarchy, such orders were often limited to Roman Catholics, all knights had to be noblemen, and military decorations were restricted to officers . The Légion d'honneur , however, was open to men of all ranks and professions; only merit or bravery counted. The new legionnaire had to be sworn into
9856-509: The island of Saint-Martin hold French nationality even though they do not speak French as a first language, while their neighbouring French-speaking Haitian immigrants (who also speak a French-creole) remain foreigners. Large numbers of people of French ancestry outside Europe speak other first languages, particularly English, throughout most of North America (with Quebec and Acadians in the Canadian Maritimes being notable, not
9968-403: The medal is plain red. The badge or star is not usually worn, except at the time of the decoration ceremony or on a dress uniform or formal wear . Instead, one normally wears the ribbon or rosette on their suit. For less formal occasions, recipients wear a simple stripe of thread sewn onto the lapel (red for chevaliers and officiers , silver for commandeurs ). Except when wearing
10080-405: The medal, whatever the Légion d'honneur rank and the military rank of the bearer. This is not mandatory with the ribbon. In practice, however, this is rarely done. There is not a single, complete list of all the members of the Legion in chronological order. The number is estimated at one million, including about 2,900 Knights Grand Cross. French nationals, men and women, can be received into
10192-656: The nations of Austria , Czech Republic , Hungary , Slovakia , Serbia and Romania . Some of them, coming from French-speaking communes in Lorraine or being French Swiss Walsers from the Valais canton in Switzerland , maintained for some generations the French language and a specific ethnic identity, later labelled as Banat (French: Français du Banat ). By 1788, there were eight villages populated by French colonists. The French First Republic appeared following
10304-476: The northwestern region of Brittany , although this is not the result of a survival of Gaulish language but of a 5th-century AD migration of Brythonic speaking Celts from Britain . The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti, which evolved into the Gallo-Romance dialects which include French and its closest relatives. With
10416-467: The only, exceptions), Spanish or Portuguese in southern South America , and Afrikaans in South Africa . The adjective "French" can be used to mean either "French citizen" or "French-speaker", and usage varies depending on the context, with the former being common in France. The latter meaning is often used in Canada, when discussing matters internal to Canada. Generations of settlers have migrated over
10528-517: The order. Members convicted of a misdemeanour ( délit in French) can be dismissed as well, although this is not automatic. Wearing the decoration of the Légion d'honneur without having the right to do so is a serious offence. Wearing the ribbon or rosette of a foreign order is prohibited if that ribbon is mainly red, like the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. French military personnel in uniform must salute other military members in uniform wearing
10640-421: The rules of a unified public domain which transcends all particularisms". This conception of the nation as being composed by a "will to live together," supported by the classic lecture of Ernest Renan in 1882, has been opposed by the French far-right , in particular the nationalist Front National ("National Front" – FN / now Rassemblement National - "National Rally" - RN) party which claims that there
10752-471: The sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Bruno Latour . For Bachelard, the scientific object should be constructed and therefore different from the positivist sciences ; in other words, information is in continuous construction. Empiricism and rationalism are not regarded as dualism or opposition but complementary, therefore studies of a priori and a posteriori , or in other words reason and dialectic , are part of scientific research. Bachelard
10864-462: The south-east which had already been conquered about one century earlier. Over the next six centuries, the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture . In the late Roman era, in addition to colonists from elsewhere in the Empire and Gaulish natives, Gallia also became home to some immigrant populations of Germanic and Scythian origin, such as the Alans . The Gaulish language
10976-639: The state sector (though not as trainees in reserved branches, e.g., as magistrates ). Seeing itself as an inclusive nation with universal values, France has always valued and strongly advocated assimilation . However, the success of such assimilation has recently been called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves ( communautarisme ). The 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs ( les quartiers sensibles ) were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts (as appeared before in other countries like
11088-479: The time, sometimes even changed multiple times during one historical era. The badge of the Légion is shaped as a five-armed "Maltese Asterisk ", using five distinctive "arrowhead" shaped arms inspired by the Maltese Cross . The badge is rendered in gilt (in silver for chevalier) enameled white, with an enameled laurel and oak wreath between the arms. The obverse central disc is in gilt, featuring
11200-448: The view of "a unified territory (one land since the beginning of civilization) and a unified people" which de-emphasized "all disparities and the succession of waves of invaders" was first imprinted on the masses by the unified history curriculum of French textbooks in the late 1870s. Since the beginning of the Third Republic (1871–1940), the state has not categorized people according to their alleged ethnic origins. Hence, in contrast to
11312-522: The willingness to live together, in Renan's 1882 essay " Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? "). The debate concerning the integration of this view with the principles underlying the European Community remains open. France has been historically open to immigration, although this has changed in recent years. Referring to this perceived openness, Gertrude Stein , wrote: "America is my country but Paris
11424-524: The word Francia , the territory of the Franks . The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire . In the pre-Roman era, Gaul (an area of Western Europe that encompassed all of what is known today as France, Belgium, part of Germany and Switzerland, and Northern Italy) was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes . Their ancestors were Celts who came from Central Europe in
11536-788: Was also identified in the fourteenth century, consistent with the timing for the Black Death in Europe. Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( French : Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur [ɔʁdʁ nɑsjɔnal də la leʒjɔ̃ dɔnœʁ] ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour ( Ordre impérial de la Légion d'honneur ), is the highest French order of merit , both military and civil , and currently comprises five classes. Established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte , it has been retained (with occasional slight alterations) by all later French governments and regimes. The order's motto
11648-664: Was born in Bar-sur-Aube , France in 1884. He was a postal clerk in Bar-sur-Aube, and then studied physics and chemistry before finally becoming interested in philosophy . To obtain his doctorate ( doctorat ès lettres ) in 1927, he wrote two theses: the main one, Essai sur la connaissance approchée , under the direction of Abel Rey , and the complementary one, Étude sur l'évolution d'un problème de physique: la propagation thermique dans les solides , supervised by Léon Brunschvicg . He first taught from 1902 to 1903 at
11760-470: Was critical of Auguste Comte 's positivism , which considered science as a continual progress . To Bachelard, scientific developments such as Einstein's theory of relativity demonstrated the discontinuous nature of the history of sciences . Thus models that framed scientific development as continuous, such as that of Comte and Émile Meyerson , seemed simplistic and erroneous to Bachelard. Through his concept of "epistemological break", Bachelard underlined
11872-484: Was incorporated back into the royal domain (i. e. the territory under direct control of the French king) in the Middle Ages . In the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem , founded in 1099, at most 120,000 Franks, who were predominantly French -speaking Western Christians, ruled over 350,000 Muslims, Jews, and native Eastern Christians. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, France experienced relatively low levels of emigration to
11984-500: Was not usually used except in cities, and even there not always in the outlying districts . Abroad, the French language is spoken in many different countries – in particular the former French colonies . Nevertheless, speaking French is distinct from being a French citizen. Thus, francophonie , or the speaking of French, must not be confused with French citizenship or ethnicity. For example, French speakers in Switzerland are not "French citizens". Native English-speaking Blacks on
12096-641: Was officialized with Jacques Chirac 's family regrouping act of 1976 ( regroupement familial ). Since then, immigration has become more varied, although France stopped being a major immigration country compared to other European countries. The large impact of North African and Arab immigration is the greatest and has brought racial , socio-cultural and religious questions to a country seen as homogenously European, French and Christian for thousands of years. Nevertherless, according to Justin Vaïsse , professor at Sciences Po Paris , integration of Muslim immigrants
12208-603: Was provided a very useful education, and enrolled for a philosophy degree. Jeanne died in June 1920, and Bachelard raised his daughter alone. Despite the gender role expectations at the time, Bachelard showed great concern in supporting his daughter's development into an academic career. Counter to stereotypes, he wanted to make his daughter, Suzanne, a scholar. Suzanne became a mathematician and philosopher involved in phenomenological and epistemological research of high standing. In 1962, he died in Paris . Bachelard's studies of
12320-420: Was slow to accept his indirect political responsibility, which caused his eventual resignation on 2 December 1887. During World War I , some 55,000 decorations were conferred, 20,000 of which went to foreigners. The large number of decorations resulted from the new posthumous awards authorised in 1918. Traditionally, membership in the Légion d'honneur could not be awarded posthumously. The establishment of
12432-484: Was that modern sciences had replaced the classical ontology of the substance with an "ontology of relations", which could be assimilated to something like a process philosophy . For instance, the physical concepts of matter and rays correspond, according to him, to the metaphysical concepts of the thing and of movement; but whereas classical philosophy considered both as distinct, and the thing as ontologically real, modern science can not distinguish matter from rays. It
12544-403: Was unclear until the publication of a study in 2019 that used genome wide data. The study identified six different genetic clusters that could be distinguished across populations. The study concluded that the population genetic clusters correlate with linguistic and historical divisions in France and with the presence of geographic barriers such as mountains and major rivers. A population bottleneck
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