Abstract

Since the late 1940s, the Swiss philosopher Denis de Rougemont actively engaged in pro-European movements, taking part in all the most important cultural events supporting the European integration process. From 1950 to 1985 he conducted the Centre européen de la Culture in Geneva and dedicated most of his writings to the cultural roots of Europe and the ethics of federalism, resulting in a philosophical and political path that is increasingly critical of the methods and outcomes of European integration. In contrast with the economic and functionalist method, he imagined a federal and meta-national union as the only political way to translate, defend and enhance European culture.