Hyppolite, Jean

(1907–1968)

   A significant scholar and philosopher in the 20th century, Hyppolite contributed to the Hegelian Marxist and Western Marxist traditions by highlighting the influence of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel on Karl Marx and the theoretical links between them. This he did in his teaching (his pupils included Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida) and his writing, most notably his Studies on Marx and Hegel (1955). Hyppolite drew attention to the themes of the realization of reason in history, the goal of freedom, and alienation and dehumanization in society that connected Marx with Hegel.

   Born in Jonzac, France, Hyppolite was educated at the École Normale Supérieure, and went on to teach at various provincial lycées throughout France.

   He took up a position at the University of Strasbourg after World War II, and in 1949 was appointed chair at the Sorbonne where he taught until 1954 when he became director of the École Normale Supérieure. In 1963 he was appointed to the Collège de France. His teachings and writings provided support for and helped to direct attention toward the theories of such Hegel-inspired Marxists as Georgii Lukács, Karl Korsch and Antonio Gramsci.