José Gil

Who is José Gil?

José Gil is a Portuguese philosopher.

In his youth he lived in Lisbon, Portugal, but his experiences under António Salazar’s 1933-1974 dictatorship, made him decide to study in a free country. He moved to Paris, France where in 1982 he got his PhD from the University of Paris where he researched on the body as a power field under the supervision of François Châtelet. There he assisted at Gilles Deleuze’s classes whose influence on his thinking was decisive.

Between 1986 and 1989 he conducted an original research project on the aesthetics of Fernando Pessoa, at the Collège International de Philosophie, where he directed a program.

He wrote several books prior to 1983 but when “Portugal, Today: Fear of Existing” was published in November 2004, there was a massive response. The book describes, in a way considered by some to be very accurate, what is to be Portuguese and how Portuguese people perceive themselves, other people and the world, thus helping to establish what it is to be "Portuguese" and related identities. The fact that the book was a success enabled the Portuguese to share a public awareness of the problem which may be relevant to helping to solve it.