LITTRÉ, MAXIMILIEN-PAUL-ÉMILE. - Writer on science and philosopher, b. in Paris on 1 Feb. 1801, d. there on 2 June 1881. He studied medicine, but did not complete his studies for family reasons. He pursued classical and Oriental studies in depth. A republican, he joined the Revolution of 1830. He was a member of the Académie française from 1873. In 1840, Comte (v.) converted him to positivism and to the myth of a future of peace. From 1867 he edited the Revue de philosophie positiviste.
Among his most important works, besides the Dictionnaire de la langue française (Paris 1863–72) and the translation of the works of Ippocrate (ibid. 1839–61), are 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, in 1852 he broke with Comte, whose mystical “aberrations” he deplored. In his complete atheism he attempted to reconcile medical pathology, socialist humanitarianism, and sociological positivism. For L. theology is naturally a historical product of human evolution.