JANET, PAUL-ALEXANDRE-RENÉ. - Philosopher, b. in Paris on 30 Apr. 1823, d. there on 4 Oct. 1899. He was first a student at the École Normale, then a professor at Strasbourg, at the Lycée Louis le Grand, and finally at the Sorbonne. He was a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques.
J. adhered to the tradition begun by V. Cousin and continued his eclectic orientation. While not concealing his own uncertainty toward every form of positive religion (toward which he assumed attitudes of a free thinker, with consequent departures from orthodoxy), his speculation was always oriented in opposition to materialism and to metaphysical skepticism. Following the spiritualist method of introspection and reflection, J. proceeds to the affirmation of God, eternal and absolute Being, principle of dignity and excellence. A large part of his writings, numerous and perhaps a little too verbose, is devoted to the revaluation of morality and to the necessary connection of morality with religion.
Principal philosophical works: Etudes sur la dialectique dans Platon et Hegel (1860); La philosophie du bonheur (1862); Le matérialisme contemporain en Allemagne (1864); La crise philosophique (1865); Le cerveau et la pensée (1866); Éléments de morale (1869); La morale (1874); Les causes finales (1876); Traité de philosophie (1880); Histoire de la philosophie : les problèmes et les écoles (1887); Histoire de la science politique dans ses rapports avec la morale (1887; 4th ed., 1925); La philosophie de Lamennais (1890); Principes de métaphysique et de psychologie (1897).
Bibliography2 works
Francesco Morandini