The annual round table of the Society of Modern & Contemporary History held in Paris on Saturday 17th March 2012 was dedicated to recent developments and methods in intellectual history. By way of introduction, it was reminded that the term “intellectuel history” encompasses many different meanings, and that we must avoid giving in too hastily to sharp categorizations and easy proclamations of absolute novelty or innovation. Contrary to some fallacious retrospective interpretations, it does exist a tradition of intellectual history in France, as the trajectory of the Revue de synthèse can display, even if we have seen approaches evolve from Henri Berr to Jean-Claude Perrot.