Pierre Sylvain Régis (1632–1707) was a French Cartesian philosopher and a prominent critic of

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

. Known as a philosopher, he was nominated to the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

in 1699.''Science and social status: the members of the Académie des Sciences 1666-1750'' By David J. Sturdy, page 302

Life

Born at La Salvetat de Blanquefort, near

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department of ...

, he had a classical education, and then went to Paris. He attended the lectures of

Jacques Rohault Jacques Rohault (; 1618 – 27 December 1672) was a French philosopher, physicist and mathematician, and a follower of Cartesianism. Life Rohault was born in Amiens, the son of a wealthy wine merchant, and educated in Paris. Having grown up with ...

, and became a follower of the philosophy of

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathe ...

. He then taught the principles of Cartesianism at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

(1665),

Aigues-Mortes Aigues-Mortes (; oc, Aigas Mòrtas) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved. Situated on the junction of the Canal du Rhône à Sèt ...

, Montpellier (1671), and Paris (1680). The prohibition issued against the teaching of Cartesianism put an end to his lectures. Régis was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1699. He died in Paris, in 1707.

Works

His major work was his ''Cours entier de philosophie ou Système général selon les principles de Descartes'' (3 vols., Paris, 1690), where he presented in a systematic way the principles of Cartesian philosophy. Opposed to Malebranche's idealism, against which he wrote in the ''

Journal des Savants A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: * Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' (1693 and 1694), Régis modified the system of Descartes on various points in the direction of empiricism. He denied that the human soul has innate and eternal ideas, maintained that all our ideas are modifications of the soul united to the body and that we can know our body and extension as immediately as our soul and thought. The ''Cours'' was criticized by

Pierre Daniel Huet P. D. Huetius Pierre Daniel Huet (; la, Huetius; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Académie de Physique in Caen (1662-1672) and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 t ...

and the Parisian Professor Jean Duhamel. Régis then wrote ''Réponse au livre qui a pour titre Censura philosophiæ Cartesianæ'' (Paris, 1691), and ''Réponse aux reflexions critique de M. Duhamel sur le système cartésian de M. Régis'' (Paris, 1692). Among his other works were ''Usage de la raison et de la foi, ou l'accord de la raison et de la foi'', with a ''Réfutation de l'opinion de Spinoza, touchant l'existence et la nature de Dieu''.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Regis, Pierre-Sylvain French philosophers 1632 births 1707 deaths Members of the French Academy of Sciences French male non-fiction writers