Étienne Vacherot (29 July 180928 July 1897) was a French philosophical writer.

Life

Vacherot was born of peasant parentage at Torcenay, near

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital ...

in the

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of France. He was educated at the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, and returned there as director of studies in 1838, after some years spent in provincial schoolmasterships. In 1839 he succeeded his master

Victor Cousin Victor Cousin (; ; 28 November 179214 January 1867) was a French philosopher. He was the founder of " eclecticism", a briefly influential school of French philosophy that combined elements of German idealism and Scottish Common Sense Realism. ...

as professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne. His ''Histoire critique de l'école d'Alexandrie'' (3 vols. 1846–51), was his first and best-known work. It drew on him attacks from the Clerical party which led to his suspension in 1851. Shortly afterwards he refused to swear allegiance to the new imperial government, and was dismissed from his post. His work ''La Démocratie'' (1859) led to a political prosecution and imprisonment. This work in turn cites Léon Ollé-Laprune, ''Étienne Vacherot'' (Paris, 1898). On 7 March 1868 he was elected to the

Académie des sciences morales et politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Upon the fall of the Empire, he took an active part in politics, was mayor of a district of Paris during the siege, and in 1871 was in the National Assembly, voting as a Moderate Liberal. In 1873 he drew nearer the Conservatives, after which he was never again successful as a parliamentary candidate, though he maintained his principles vigorously in the press. While a noted freethinker in the 1850s and 1860s, later in life Vacherot felt remorse over the growth of atheistic

anticlericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...

and returned to both

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and monarchism, receiving Catholic burial upon his death. The Vacherot brothers,

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

and Marcel, both French tennis champions, were grandsons of Étienne Vacherot.Family tree of Étienne Vacherot
Marcel is noticed as his grandson (André is missing), published at the Geneanet Website.

Philosophy

Vacherot was a man of high character and adhered strictly to his principles, which were generally opposed to those of the party in power. His chief philosophical importance consists in the fact that he was a leader in the attempt to revivify French philosophy by the new thought of Germany, to which he had been introduced by

, but of which he never had more than a second-hand knowledge.

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

he held to be based on

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He maintains the unity and freedom of the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and the absolute obligation of the moral law. In religion, which was his main interest, he was much influenced by

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

, and appears somewhat in the ambiguous position of a sceptic anxious to believe. He sees insoluble contradictions in every mode of conceiving God as real, yet he advocates religious belief, though the object of that belief have but an abstract or imaginary existence.

Works

Besides the two works mentioned above, he wrote: *''La Métaphysique et la science'' (1858) *''Essais de philosophie critique'' (1864) *''La Religion'' (1869) *''La Science et la conscience'' (1870) *''Le Nouveau Spiritualisme'' (1884) *''La Démocratie libérale'' (1892)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacherot, Etienne 19th-century French philosophers Academic staff of the University of Paris Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques 1809 births 1897 deaths French male non-fiction writers