Philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne, guest of the Louvre Chair

In addition to its major exhibitions, the Louvre Museum offers many events, conferences and debates about art. Each year, a series of conference is dedicated to research in archaeology, history of the arts and culture. A renowned profile is invited to the museum’s auditorium to present a personal summary on an original subject, for “transdisciplinary comparisons to be made between works from all over the world”.

A common horizon of universality

Souleymane Bachir Diagne is entrusted with the Louvre Chair in 2024 for a series of five conferences entitled “Louvres : quels universels ?” (Louvre: what universals?).  In these conferences, held from 25 November to 5 December 2024, Souleymane Bachir Diagne will “try to understand how, and to what extent, the presence of objects from other places disrupts and redefines the narrative of the Louvre”.

As the Louvre website explains in its French section, Souleymane Bachir Diagne is taking up the vision of French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who defined that “cultures placed side by side and not on top of each other” project themselves “together towards a common horizon of universality”. Souleymane Bachir Diagne proposes “to reflect on the following question: what does the Louvre, a museum that displays objects from different origins, cultures and eras, teaches us about the possibility of a lateral universalism?”.

For the philosopher, this concept of a “universalisation of cultures” is essential for a “dialogue of cultures”. In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde in October, he clarified his reflection: “The universal is not given once and for all. It must be built together by recognising differences, without ranking them or confining them in nationalism concepts. Only on this condition will we be able to maintain the idea of a common humanity”.

A prominent alumnus with deep history with France

Souleymane Bachir Diagne is a Senegalese philosopher born in 1955 in Saint-Louis (Senegal). He is a professor of French and African philosophy at the Columbia University in New York, and a prominent, internationally recognised, specialist in history of science and Islamic philosophy.

After studies in the Dakar secondary school where he passed his baccalauréat, Souleymane Bachir Diagne registered in preparatory classes at the lycée Louis-le-Grand à Paris in 1973. There, he prepared the entry exam to the École normale supérieure, and passed a Licence degree and a Master’s degree in philosophy at the Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University. He passed his agrégation degree (examination for civil services) in 1978, and worked for a year at the University of Harvard (USA) as part of an exchange programme. Then, he defended a third cycle doctoral thesis in philosophy at the Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University in 1982, and later, in 1988, another State doctorate thesis (long-term thesis work), that he is still working on at the Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Thanks to high-level his studies which were closely followed in France and exceptional international career, Souleymane Bachir Diagne has been one of the two guests of honour of the 1st “France Alumni Day” event in 2023. The event highlighted the excellence of talents training in the French higher education system, and led to inspiring and heartfelt speeches reminding attendees of the importance of developing connections created during their academic and professional careers in France. 

Explore more: 

- Louvre Chair (in French)

- France Alumni Day, the world alumni day