Victor Cousin

Victor Cousin (1792-1867), French philosopher and educator, regarded as the founder of the modern philosophical school of eclecticism. Born in Paris, and educated at the École Normale, Universities of Paris, Cousin went on to be appointed lecturer at the University of Paris in 1815 and to be made director of the École Normale in 1830. That same year, he became a councillor of state and a peer of France. In 1840 he became minister of public instruction in the French Cabinet; under his influence the French system of primary education was reorganized, philosophical freedom was encouraged in the university, and the study of the history of philosophy was introduced into academic curricula. Believing that no single philosophical system is entirely correct, Cousin combined aspects of idealism, materialism, mysticism, and scepticism into an eclectic system of his own. He was particularly influenced by the philosophy of common sense of the Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid and by the idealism of the German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel.