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 was a realist and a spiritualist. Drawing inspiration from T. Reid (v.), sensation (v.), whose Condillac (v.), perception (v.). He maintained, that is, that there are not only sensations (awareness of our subjective states) but also perceptions, namely immediate apprehensions of things existing outside us. The subject is aware of the self (v.) as a cause (v.), and perception enables him to attribute these three notions to external things. From the causality of things it is possible to ascend to the existence of God. In politics, R.-C. was an advocate of constitutional monarchy.
His Fragments philosophiques, together with several lectures, were published by A. Schimberg.
M. R.-C., ses discours et ses écrits, 2 vols., ibid. 1861; A. Schimberg, Les fragments philosophiques de R.-C., ibid. 1913; A. Omodeo, La cultura francese nell'età della Restaurazione, Milan 1948 (v. indice).
Sofia Vanni-Rovichi