LITTRÉ, MAXIMILIEN-PAUL-ÉMILE. - Writer on science and philosopher, b. in Paris on 1 February 1801, d. there on 2 June 1881. He studied medicine, but did not complete his studies for family reasons. He went deeply into classical and Oriental studies. A republican, he adhered to the revolution of 1830. He was a member of the Académie française from 1873. In 1840 the reading of Auguste Comte (v.) converted him to positivism and to the myth of a future of peace. From 1867 he directed the Revue de philosophie positiviste.
Among his most important works are, besides the Dictionnaire de la langue française (Paris 1863-72) and the translation of the works of Hippocrates (ibid. 1839-61), A. Comte et la philosophie positive (ibid. 1863), Conservation, révolution et positivisme (ibid. 1852), Médecine et médecins (ibid. 1872), La science au point de vue philosophique (ibid. 1873), Littérature et histoire (ibid. 1875).
An absolute denier of every theological position, he broke away in 1852 from Comte, whose mystical "lapses" he deplored. In his complete atheism he attempted to resolve medical pathology, socialistic humanitarianism and sociological positivism. For L. theology is by nature a historical product of human evolution.
Bibliography4 worksCh. A. Sainte-Beuve, Notice sur M. L., Paris 1863 (then in Nouveaux lundis, V, ibid. 1893, pp. 200-56); G. Carducci, E. L., in Edizione nazi
BIBL.: Ch. A. Sainte-Beuve, Notice sur M. L., Paris 1863 (then in Nouveaux lundis, V, ibid. 1893, pp. 200-56); G. Carducci, E. L., in Edizione nazionale delle opere, XXIII, Bologna 1937, pp. 269-90; E. Caro, L. et le positivisme, Paris 1883; J. Fileysant, L. poète, Bordeaux 1933.
Petrocchi, Massimo. “Littré, maximilien-paul-émile.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VII, col. 1426. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/littre-maximilien-paul-emile.
MLA
Petrocchi, Massimo. “Littré, maximilien-paul-émile.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 1426. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/littre-maximilien-paul-emile.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec7_littre_maximilien_paul_emile,
author = {Petrocchi, Massimo},
title = {Littré, maximilien-paul-émile},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VII},
pages = {1426},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/littre-maximilien-paul-emile}
}
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