French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Dufourmantelle, In Praise of Risk
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
In Praise of Risk
Anne Dufourmantelle
Published: 06/04/2011
Publisher: Payot
Series: Manuels Payot
ISBN: 978-2-228-90642-5
EAN: 9782228906425
No. of pages: 311 pages
Publisher's price: 18,50€
Our era is defined by risk: probability calculations, polls, stock market crash scenarios, psychological evaluations of individuals, natural disaster forecasting, crisis units, surveillance cameras; no dimension of social, political, or even ethical discourse escapes its reach.
Today, the precautionary principle has become the norm. In terms of human lives, climate disasters, terrorism, and social demands, risk is a slider adjusted according to collective mobilization, but in fact, it remains an unquestioned value. But what does it mean to risk one's life? How is it possible, while alive, to contemplate this risk? To think of it from the perspective of life rather than death? Does risking one's life necessarily mean confronting death—and surviving... or is there, nestled within life itself, a secret mechanism, a subtle tune capable on its own of shifting existence onto that frontline we call desire? How can we not wonder what becomes of a culture that can no longer conceive of this risk without turning it into a heroic act, sheer madness, or deviant behavior? The expression is one of the most beautiful in our language. For risk—let its object remain undetermined for now—opens up an unknown space.
First, it metabolizes the moment of decision, and thus our intimate relationship with time. It is a battle whose opponent we do not know, a desire we are unaware of, a love whose face we cannot recognize, a pure event. And what if risk mapped out a territory even before an action was taken, if it implied a certain way of being in the world, built a horizon line... At the risk of... This book evokes, in short chapters, different kinds of risk: passion, freedom, dreams, laughter, infidelity, but it also deals with the risk of... wasting time, leaving family, not being dead, being in suspense, disappointing, thinking... For risk does not necessarily reside where we expect it to.
And the unhoped-for is undoubtedly what defines it best. Anne Dufourmantelle is a psychoanalyst and philosopher, and since 2005 has directed the series "L'autre pensée" at Éditions Stock. She is also the author of "En cas d'amour: Psychopathologie de la vie amoureuse", published by Éditions Payot in 2009.
Contents:
Risking One's Life
Eurydice Saved
Tiny, Magical Dependencies
Voluntary Servitude and Disobedience
In Suspense
At the Risk of Passion
Leaving the Family
Oblivion, Amnesia, Deliverance
Incurable (In)fidelities
Zero Risk?
Etc.
The Author:
Anne Dufourmantelle, who holds a PhD in philosophy (Sorbonne) and is a graduate of Brown University, taught at the UP6-La Villette school of architecture and conducts a seminar at the Institut des Hautes Études en Psychanalyse at the ENS.
She directs a collection of essays at Stock titled "L'autre pensée" and practices as a psychoanalyst in Paris. She has published several books, notably "La femme et le sacrifice" (Denoël), published in 2006.
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A. Lancelin dedicated a post to this book on BibliObs.com:
"The young psychoanalyst, already the author of "En cas d'amour" in 2008 and a dialogue with the American philosopher Avital Ronell, here dissects all those moments of crucial decision that usher in another time, one where the risk is taken, where rewinding is impossible.
That time, she writes, is the miraculous opposite of neurosis, whose trademark is precisely to trap the future in its nets, so that our present is shaped according to the matrix of past experiences, leaving no room for disruption or the unprecedented.
Taking the risk of loving, when everything pushes us to dread the horror of dependency; taking the risk of breaking the silence when speaking seems to have become impossible; taking the risk of breaking off, so as not to have to die while alive like so many others; taking the risk of laughing too, when the intimate victory proper to true insolence is something no power can ever accept: these are all situations evoked by the author with a depth and poetry that are not without recalling those of the great Annie Le Brun." — Aude Lancelin
Written by French philosopher and psychoanalyst Anne Dufourmantelle, this thoughtful collection of essays examines how modern society has come to view existence almost entirely through the lens of security and probability. In contrast to a contemporary culture dominated by the precautionary principle, the author invites readers to reconsider the vital role of exposure and uncertainty. Rather than reducing danger to mere catastrophe or heroism, the work investigates how deliberate choices and unexpected turns can awaken desire and fundamentally transform our intimate relationship with time and human freedom.
Engaging deeply with both psychoanalytic thought and continental philosophy, the text offers a nuanced reflection on everyday experiences such as passion, dreaming, infidelity, and the willingness to waste time. It serves as a compelling resource for readers interested in contemporary philosophy, ethics, and the human sciences who wish to question the rigid norms of safety. By reframing vulnerability as an essential dimension of being alive, Dufourmantelle provides a poetic and intellectual guide for anyone seeking to understand the quiet courage required to truly inhabit the present moment.