Why French Postmodernists were Pro-Paedophilia in the 1970s

In the wake of the Paris 1968 student protests, Le Monde published a petition from a group of French intellectuals including Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze and a number of future French ministers that argued for the rights of “12- and 13-year olds” “to have relations with whomever they choose”. 

In this episode I want to explore why these French intellectuals were on the side of Paedophilia, why the pro-paedophilia lobby was so strong at the time and what philosophical justification they had for this view. This will involve an exploration of what happened with the Paris 1968 student protests. 

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📚 Further Reading:

• The original petition (in French): https://web.archive.org/web/20200125093636/http://www.dolto.fr/fd-code-penal-crp.html

• The Atlantic’s article on the age of consent in France from which many quotes and context about 1968 in this video is derived: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/frances-existential-crisis-over-sexual-harassment-laws/550700/

• The Guardian’s article on this strange time in French intellectual history: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/feb/24/jonhenley#:~:text=The%20petitions%20were%20issued%20after,Kouchner%20and%20Mr%20Lang%2C%20said.

• Wikipedia Article on the petition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_petition_against_age_of_consent_laws

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🎶 Music Used:

1. Magnetic — CO.AG Music

2. Mesmerize — Kevin MacLeod

3. End of the Era — Kevin MacLeod

4. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod

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⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

1:08 1968

3:19 The Birth of Active Politics

5:30 Analysis

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#postmodernism #thelivingphilosophy #1968 #philosophy

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