Abstract
On Sunday, October 2, 1892, just over 120 years ago, Ernest Renan died here at the Collège de France. The year 2012 also marks the centenary of his famous opening lecture at the Collège de France. These are ample reasons for the Collège de France to pay tribute to him at its opening symposium.
In his time, he was considered the great intellectual reference, succeeding Victor Hugo in this position. This makes him a legitimate object of study at the crossroads of several scientific disciplines: the history of science, the history of philosophy, the history of literature, political history and the history of sensibilities. Others can certainly also be mobilized.
In general, the biographical approach has been favored. It is all the more attractive in that Renan himself has set out the main stages of his life, particularly his early years. In this way, he set the framework for a body of scholarly work, often of the highest quality. The other dominant trend has been the study of Renan's thought and its influence on his time and posterity. Renan's specific place in the evolution of various forms of knowledge has been less marked. Here, we apply ourselves to these different fields.
