Emanuele Coccia

Emanuele Coccia
Born1976 (age 49–50)
Italy
OccupationPhilosopher
AwardsPrix PhiloMonaco de l'Essai 2017 for La Vie des plantes[1] (The Life of Plants)
Education
EducationFree University of Berlin, University of Macerata[2]
Alma materUniversity of Florence
ThesisDe bono universis: An Anonymous Treatise Attributed to Witelo—Critical Edition and Commentary (2005)
Stefano Zamponi, Gian Carlo Garfagnini
Philosophical work
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
InstitutionsEHESS
LanguageItalian, French, English
Main interests
Philosophy, history of philosophy, history of art, metaphysics, plants, images, ontology, aesthetics
Notable works
The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture (2018), Sensible Life: A Micro-ontology of the Image (2016)


Emanuele Coccia, born in 1976, is an Italian philosopher and since 2011 an associate professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris.[3] He began his academic career in medieval studies, but evolved into metaphysics, aesthetics, and ontology, making his mark in the field as someone who addresses areas typically neglected in philosophy, like fashion[4] and botany.[5][6]

His book La Vie des plantes: Une métaphysique du mélange, later translated to English as The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture, received the Prix PhiloMonaco de l’Essai in 2017.[1][6]

Biography

Coccia was born in Italy[7] with a twin brother named Matteo who died in 2001.[8] He has discussed this piece of trivia from his background as key in his formation of becoming a philosopher: 1, in the postface of The Life of Plants, and 2, in the series Où va la philosophie française ?, at a conference organized by Les Rencontres Philosophiques at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.[9] Coccia described his first encounter with philosophical questions as arising from a black-and-white photograph of himself and his twin brother as infants. Because he could not determine which child in the photograph was him, the image prompted questions about identity, resemblance, perception, and the relationship between the self and the other.[9] He recalled that the uncertainty initially amused him but also produced a sense of wonder.[9] The photograph later acquired a more profound and unsettling significance, particularly because he remained unable, even as an adult, to distinguish himself from his brother in the image.[9]

Education

He holds a bachelor's degree (philosophy, with a study abroad period at the Free University of Berlin) and a master's degree in history of philosophy from the University of Macerata.[2] In 2001, he defended a master's thesis titled Nature and Origin of the Intellect in Averroism under the supervision of Filippo Mignini. His MA-BA dissertation was a "long dissertation equivalent to a PhD," according to the CV attached to his EHESS faculty profile.

He received a doctorate in medieval philosophy and philology from the University of Florence in 2005, with a dissertation titled De bono universis: An Anonymous Treatise Attributed to Witelo—Critical Edition and Commentary.[2][7]

Post-doctoral fellowships

Academic career

He taught at the University of Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany from 2008 to 2011, as an Assistant Professor for Ancient and Medieval History of Philosophy.[3][2]

Since 2011, he has been an associate professor at l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).[2]

From 2013-2016, he taught history of art for the Vocational Bachelor's Program in fashion design at the École Duperré art school in Paris.[2]

Visiting professorships, fellowships

Research and activities

Early in his career, his research focused on medieval philosophy, especially the doctrine of Averroism. He worked with fellow Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben to edit the anthology Angeli, Ebraismo, Cristianesimo, Islam, published in 2012.

His research evolved toward metaphysics and the theory of the image and the nature of living things. He wrote La Vie sensible, a work heralded by Roger Pol-Droit of Le Monde newspaper as a "philosophical meteorite."[10] In this book, Coccia defines the ontological status of the image as something apart from or between subject and object, not merely as illusion but as something sensed and actually lived through. The second part of the book looks at how we interact with images through dreams, fashion, and biology. Published by Fordham University Press, the English translation by Scott Alan Stuart is rendered as A Sensible Life: A Micro-ontology of the Image, part of the press's series on Commonalities.[11]

In 2016, he contributed to the collective work Adam, la nature humaine, avant et après. Épistémologie de la Chute under the direction of Irène Rosier-Catach and Gianluca Briguglia.[12] The following year, La Vie des plantes was awarded the Prix PhiloMonaco d'Essai.[6][5][1] La vie des plantes reinforces plants as active beings, and, moreover, as the creators of the atmosphere. It takes the view that plants actively shape and connect all living beings on the planet.[13] One reviewer praised the work overall, but argued that Coccia puts too much weight on his argument about seeds. Reason, Coccia argues, is a seed even before the seed as existing matter. And from reason to seed, through the soil and the roots, the plant thus connects with everything. But, Josh Dugat argues that Coccia's thesis neglects the simple fact that every plant does not originate from seeds. Coccia does, however, point out in the book that "reason is a seed or a spore."[13] In any case, by framing plants as born of reason, Coccia does something entirely new in philosophy. Philosophie magazine called it much more "metaphysical meditation" than botany as a science, not even naming specific plants but speaking of all plant life in more general terms.[14]

In 2018, he contributed to Dior Images, a visual tribute to Paolo Roversi published by Rizzoli.[15] In this vein, he also collaborated with photographer Viviane Sasson on Modern Alchemy: Artisans of the Wild: an Enchanting History, 2, a meditation on art and nature and the unity of all sentient life forms.[a] Coccia's author bio for the book describes him as a philosopher of aesthetics, reemphasizing his focus on the ontological status of the image. Coccia's research about images and aesthetics naturally parlayed into the fashion scene. He met Alessandro Michele while the latter was still at Gucci, through mutual acquaintance Giovanni Attili,[4] a professor of urban planning at the Università La Sapienza in Rome,[16] who is Michele's committed partner.[17] Coccia explained in an interview that he and Michele instantly understood each other and from that connection they conceived the book that became in English The Life of Forms: Philosophy of Re-Enchantment (HarperCollins, 2025.) He was quoted in the Vogue interview: "I believe that fashion is the art that allows life to take its form, and therefore is the privileged subject of philosophy."[4] The book was co-written by Michele and Coccia in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, was first published in Italian in 2021, and within a fear years, as the English translation was being talked about, the fashion world anticipated Michele's transition as the new creative director at Maison Valentino.[4] Michele explained that "ultimately [the book is] about so many other things," divided into seven stanzas (philosophy, ambiguity, animism, design, collections, Hollywood, twins) and "structured as a philosophical conversation," with sections recalling religious texts.[4] For Coccia, it centers on the idea that fashion gives form to the identity that one wears in the world. As we lose mystery and wonder in life that becomes ordinary, there is a role for fashion as an art form that can reinvigorate our perceptions.[18]

In 2019, Coccia acted as scientific advisor on the exhibition Nous les Aries (Our Trees) in the garden of the Cartier Foundation in Paris.[19][20]

In 2020-2021, Coccia was then a guest artist for a year at Le Fresnoy, the Studio national des arts contemporains, (national studio of contemporary art.) In addition, from 2021 to 2022, he wrote a monthly column entitled "Points de vie" in the French daily newspaper Libération.[21] Around this time, through his book, Philosophie de la maison, he began to focus on ideas about space, in particular the Aristotelian idea of space as a third element between object and subject.[22][b]

He contributed to the series Où va la philosophie française ? published in Les Cahiers from Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. The volume, a collective work, was published by Librairie philosophique J. Vrin in 2024.[23][9]

He co-edited the collective Le cri de Gaïa with Frédérique Aït-Touati, a historian of science. Contributors to the work include philosopher Vinciane Despret.[15]

Publications

  • La trasparenza delle immagini. Averroè e l’averroismo, Milan, Mondadori, 240 p., 2005. Translated in Spanish. ISBN 9788842492726.
  • La Vie sensible, translated from Italian by Martin Rueff, published in Paris, by Payot et Rivages, 2010
    • Translated in six languages, including the English Sensible Life: A Micro-ontology of the Image. Fordham University Press, 2016. Translation by Scott Alan Stuart. Introduction by Kevin Attell. ISBN 9780823267422.
  • Angeli. Ebraismo, Cristianesimo, Islam, éd. E. Coccia et Giorgio Agamben, Milan/Vicence, Neripozza, 2012.
  • Le Bien dans les choses, translated by M. Rueff from Italian to French. Paris: Payot et Rivages, 2013.[24][25] (Translated in five languages)
  • La Vie des plantes. Une métaphysique du mélange, Paris, Payot et Rivages, 2016.
    • Translated in ten languages, including the English The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture. Polity Press, 2018.
  • Avec Donatien Grau, Le Musée transitoire. At 10 Corso Como, Paris, Klincksieck, 2018, 104 p.[8]. (Translated in English.)
  • Métamorphoses, Paris, Bibliothèque Rivages, 240 p., 2020.
  • Philosophie de la maison. L'espace domestique et le bonheur, translated by Léo Texier, Paris, Bibliothèque Rivages, 150 p., 2022.
    • Translated in English as Philosophy of the Home: Domestic Space and Happiness. Penguin Books, 2024. ISBN 9781802061024
  • Hiérarchie. La société des anges, translated by Joël Gayraud, Paris, Rivages, 2023, 250 p.
  • Co-authored La vita della forme: Filosofia del reincanto with Alessandro Michele. HarperCollins Italia, 224p., 2024. ISBN 9791259851420.
    • Translated by as The Life of Forms: Theory of the Re-enchantment. HarperCollins, 2025.
  • Traité de l'amour moderne, Paris, Climats/Éditions Flammarion, 288 p., 2026.

Notes

  1. ↑ A dialogue between Coccia and Sasson published by JBE Books, 2022.
  2. ↑ He points out in the School of Architecture lecture that Aristotle wrote about this in De Anima (On the Soul). See YouTube video in reference: About ten minutes into the video.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Remise du Prix des Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco 2017". PhiloTV. PhiloMonaco. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Membres statutaires: Emanule Coccia". Le CRAL EHESS (in French). Archived from the original on 23 April 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Emanuele Coccia Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales". Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Cardini, Tiziana (4 June 2024). "Alessandro Michele and Emanuele Coccia Get Philosophical About Fashion: "Clothes Aren't Only Artifacts, They're Hallways to a Different Reality"". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Le Prix des Rencontres philosophiques de Monaco récompense Emanuele Coccia pour "La Vie des plantes"". PhiloMag (in French). Philosophie Magazine. 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 Montjou, Guyonne (29 September 2017). "Emanuele Coccia : «Les arbres sont des êtres intelligents»". Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 See his Bibliothèque nationale de France authority record: http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb150193331
  8. ↑ La Vie des plantes, Payot, 2023, Postface, p7 and p166. (Sourced in translation from: Contributeurs de Wikipédia, "Emanuele Coccia," Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emanuele_Coccia&oldid=235581933 (Page consultée le avril 26, 2026).
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Emanuele Coccia // Qu'est ce que la philosophie // Soirée de clôture". YouTube. PhiloMonaco. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Pol Droit, Roger (28 October 2010). "La Vie sensible, d'Emanuele Coccia un aérolithe philosophique" (in French). Archived from the original on 7 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "Sensible Life". Fordham University Press. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Coccia, Emanuele (2016). "La comédie du droit". Éditions de la Sorbonne (in French). Archived from the original on 3 July 2026. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  13. 1 2 Dugat, Josh (28 May 2019). "Review: The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture by Emanuele Coccia". bwr. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Duru, Martin (17 January 2017). "La vie des plantes : Une métaphysique du mélange". Philo Mag. Philosophie Magazine. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Emanuele Coccia". PhiloMonaco (in French). Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "GIOVANNI ATTILI IN CONVERSATION WITH EMANUELE COCCIA CIVITA WITHOUT ADJECTIVES OE ANY OTHER EXPLANATIONS". Mattatoio. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  17. ↑ Cooper, Leah Faye (September 7, 2021). "Gucci's Alessandro Michele Is Obsessed With the Present". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  18. ↑ "EMANUELE COCCIA X FRENCH FRIES". French fries Interview by Germano D’Acquisto. French Fries Magazine. 28 March 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Exhibition . Trees". Fondation Cartier (in French). Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Emanuele Coccia : "Il faut arrêter de considérer les arbres comme un décor urbain"". Europe1 (in French). 28 July 2019. Archived from the original (Video) on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Coccia, Emanuele. "Emanuele Coccia Philosophe, maître de conférences à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (Chess)". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Sensitive Space - Lecture by Emanuele Coccia". YouTube. Architectural Association School of Architecture. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "Qu'est-ce que la philosophie? Emanuele Coccia". PhiloAudio Le Plaisir de Philosopher. 7 June 2018. Conférence Qu'est-ce que la philosophie? donnée par Emanuele Coccia le 7 juin 2018 au Musée océanographique dans le cadre du Colloque des Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco.
  24. ↑ lacub, Marcela (1 November 2013). "Du désir d'être une crème de beauté". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  25. ↑ de Oliveira, Victorine (28 November 2013). "Le Bien dans les choses". PhiloMag (in French). Philosophie Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2026.

Appendices

Bibliography

Radio

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