Joseph Frédéric Bérard (4 November 1789 – 16 April 1828),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, was born at

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Life

Educated at the medical school in Montpellier, he afterwards went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he was employed in connection with the ''Dictionnaire des sciences medicales''. He returned in 1816, and published a work, ''Doctrine medicale de l'école de Montpellier'' (1819), which is indispensable to a proper understanding of the principles of the Vitalistic school, more specifically ''Doctrine medicale de l'école de Montpellier''. In 1823 he was called to a chair of medicine at Paris, which he held for three years; he was then nominated professor of

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

at Montpellier. His health gave way under his labours, and he died in 1828. His most important book is his ''Doctrines des rapports du physique et du moral'' (Paris, 1823). He held that consciousness or internal perception reveals to us the existence of an immaterial, thinking, feeling and willing subject, the self or soul. Alongside of this there is the vital force, the nutritive Tower, which uses the physical frame as its organ. The

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and the principle of life are in constant reciprocal action, and the first owes to the second, not the formation of its faculties, but the conditions under which they are evolved. He showed himself unable to understand the points of view of those whom he criticized, and yet his own theories, midway between vitalism and

animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...

, are entirely destitute of originality. To the ''Esprit des doctrines medicales de Montpellier'', published posthumously (Paris, 1830), the editor, H. Petiot, prefixed an account of his life and works; see also Damiron, ''Phil. en France an XIX' siècle'' (Paris, 1834); C. J. Tissot, ''Anthropologie générale'' (1843).

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Berard 1789 births 1828 deaths 19th-century French philosophers Writers from Montpellier 19th-century French physicians 19th-century French writers French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French male writers Physicians from Montpellier