Charles Batteux (6 May 171314 July 1780) was a French philosopher and writer on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

Biography

Batteux was born in

Alland'Huy-et-Sausseuil Alland'Huy-et-Sausseuil () is a commune in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region of northern France. Geography Alland'Huy-et-Sausseuil is located some 10 km east of Rethel and 35 km south-west of Charleville-Mézières. Th ...

, Ardennes, and studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

at Reims. In 1739 he came to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, and after teaching in the colleges of

Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the ...

and Navarre, was appointed to the chair of Greek and Roman philosophy in the Collège de France. His 1746 treatise ''Les beaux arts réduits à un même principe'' (translated into English as ''The Fine Arts Reduced to a Single Principle'', trans. James O. Young, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015) was an attempt to find a unity among existing theories of beauty and taste on "a single principle", and its views were widely accepted, This cites Dacier et Dupuy, ''Éloges'', in ''Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions''. not only in France but throughout Europe. According to P. O. Kristeller, The reputation thus gained, confirmed by his translation of Horace (1750), led to Batteux's becoming a member of the Académie des Inscriptions (1754) and of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

(1761). His ''Cours de belles lettres'' (1765) was afterwards included with some minor writings in the large treatise, ''Principes de la littérature'' (1774). His philosophical writings were ''La morale d'Épicure tirée de ses propres écrits'' (1758), and the ''Histoire des causes premières'' (1769). In consequence of the freedom with which in this work he attacked the abuse of authority in philosophy, he lost his professorial chair. His last and most extensive work was a ''Cours d'études à l'usage des élèves de l'école militaire'' in forty-five volumes. In ''Les Beaux Arts'', Batteux developed a theory influenced by John Locke through

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

's sceptical

sensualism In epistemology, Sensualism is a doctrine whereby sensations and perception are the basic and most important form of true cognition. It may oppose abstract ideas. This ideogenetic question was long ago put forward in Greek philosophy ( Stoicism ...

. He held that the fine arts are arts ("assemblages of rules for doing well"), for producing fine or beautiful things ("which please" of themselves), always "in imitation of ''la belle nature''" and requiring genius. Applying this principle to the art of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

, and analysing, line by line and even word by word, the works of great poets, he deduced the law that the beauty of poetry consists in the accuracy, beauty and harmony of individual expression. His ''Histoire des causes premières'' was among the first attempts at a history of philosophy, and in his work on Epicurus, following on Gassendi, he defended

Epicureanism Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by ...

against the general attacks made against it.

For his work "La Morale d'Épicure" 1758 see A. Toscano,“La Morale d’Épicure” di Charles Batteux ed il principio del “secondo natura”, in “Scienze e Ricerche” n. 42, 1 dicembre 2016, ISSN: 2283-5873, pp. 20–29. Strictly in Aesthetics terms Batteux sets the single principle for fine arts in imitation of nature, and this in terms of ideal of perfection to make a harmonious whole: "let's choose the most beautiful parts of nature, to make an exquisite whole, more perfect then nature, but never ending to be natural".Book I, part I: "à faire un choix des plus belles parties de la nature pour en former en tout exquis, qui fùt plus parfait que la nature elle-méme, sans cependant cesser d'étre naturel". See: TOSCANO A. (1991). Charles Batteux: Les Quatre Poëtiques. RIVISTA DI ESTETICA, vol. 39; p. 67-78, In this concept, clearly, Batteux follows a long tradition, present at least in Leon Battista Alberti; as well as for the expression of fine arts, present in

Giovanni Battista Armenini Giovanni Battista Armenini or Armanini (1530–1609) was an Italian art historian, critic, and academic. He was born and died in Faenza. His main contribution was the publication in 1587 of the theoretical treatise on the practice of painting, ...

and more back in Sebastiano Serlio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batteux, Charles 1713 births 1780 deaths People from Ardennes (department) Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Académie Française 18th-century French philosophers Academic staff of the Collège de France French male non-fiction writers