He was born at Montpellier. He studied philosophy in the school of Victor Cousin, and carried on the eclectic tradition of his master along with Ravaisson and Jules Simon. He was professor of philosophy at Caen, at the École Normale in Paris and later at the Sorbonne.
His chief works are a monograph on Aenesidemus the Sceptic (1840); Le Scepticisme: Ænésidème, Pascal, Kant (1845); a translation of Spinoza (1843); Précurseurs et disciples de Descartes (1862); Discours de la philosophie de Leibniz (1857)--a work which had great influence on the progress of thought in France; Essai de philosophie religieuse (1859); ''Critique et histoire de la philosophie (1865).
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.