ROYER-COLLARD, PIERRE-PAUL. - Philosopher and statesman, b. 21 June 1763 at Sompuis (Champagne), d. 4 Sept. 1845 at Châteauvieux near St-Agnon. He taught at the University of Paris from 1811 to 1820. He was President of the Chamber in 1828.
In philosophy he is a realist and spiritualist. Drawing inspiration from T. Reid (q.v.), he combats the philosophy of sensation (q.v.), of which he sees Condillac (q.v.) as the principal representative, and affirms the philosophy of perception (q.v.). He holds, namely, that there are not only sensations (consciousness of our subjective states) but also perceptions, i.e., immediate apprehensions of things existing outside us. The subject is conscious of the ego (q.v.) as a permanent substance and as a cause (q.v.), and perception enables him to attribute these three notions to external things. From the causality of things it is possible to infer the existence of God. In politics, R.-C. is an advocate of constitutional monarchy.
His *Fragments philosophiques*, together with some lectures, were published by A. Schimberg.