Léon Ollé-Laprune (25 June 1839 – 19 February 1898) was a French Catholic philosopher.
Life
Under the influence of the philosopher
Elme Marie Caro
Elme Marie Caro (4 March 1826, Poitiers, Vienne13 July 1887, Paris) was a French philosopher.
Life
His father, a professor of philosophy, gave him an education at the Collège Stanislas de Paris, Stanislas College and the École normale supérie ...
and of
Père Gratry's book ''Les Sources'', Ollé-Laprune, after exceptionally brilliant studies at the
Ecole Normale Supérieure (1858 to 1861), devoted himself to philosophy. His life was spent in teaching, first in the ''
lycée
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
s ''and then in the Ecole Normale Supérieure from 1875.
As
Frédéric Ozanam
Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam (; 23 April 1813 – 8 September 1853) was a French literary scholar, lawyer, journalist and equal rights advocate. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent ...
had been a Catholic professor of history and foreign literature in the university, Ollé-Laprune's aim was to be a Catholic professor of philosophy there.
Theodore de Regnon, the
Jesuit
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, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
theologian, wrote to him:
:"I am glad to think that God wills in our time to revive the lay apostolate, as in the times of Justin and Athenagoras; it is you especially who give me these thoughts."
The Government of the
Third Republic was now and then urged by a certain section of the press to punish the "clericalism" of Ollé-Laprune, but the repute of his philosophical teaching protected him. For one year only (1881–82), after organizing a manifestation in favour of the expelled congregations, he was suspended from his chair by
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
, and the first to sign the protest addressed by his students to the minister on behalf of their professor was the future socialist deputy
Jean Jaurès
Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social demo ...
, then a student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure.
The
Academy of Moral and Political Sciences
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
elected him a member of the philosophical section in 1897, to succeed
Vacherot. Some months after his death
William P. Coyne called him "the greatest Catholic layman who has appeared in France since Ozanam" ("New Ireland Review", June, 1899, p. 195).
Works
Ollé-Laprune's first important work was ''La Philosophie de Malebranche'' (1870). Ten years later to obtain the doctorate he defended before the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
a thesis on
moral certitude. As against Cartesian rationalism and positivistic determinism, he investigated the part of the will and the heart in the phenomenon of belief. This work resembles in many respects
John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
's ''Grammar of Assent''.
In his "Essai sur la morale d'Aristote" (1881) Ollé-Laprune defended the "Eudaemonism" of the Greek philosopher against the
Kantian
Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...
theories; and in "La philosophie et le temps présent" (1890) he vindicated, against
deistic
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation of t ...
spiritualism, the right of the Christian thinker to go beyond the data of "natural religion" and illuminate philosophy by the data of revealed religion.
One of his most influential works was the "Prix de la vie" (1894), wherein he shows why life is worth living. The advice given by
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
to the Catholics of France found in Ollé-Laprune an active champion. His brochure "Ce qu'on va chercher à Rome" (1895) was one of the best commentaries on the papal policy.
His articles and conferences attest his growing influence in Catholic circles. He became a leader of Christian activity, consulted and heard by all until his premature death when he was about to finish a book on
Jouffroy Jouffroy is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alain Jouffroy (1928–2015), French writer, poet and artist
*Claude-François-Dorothée, marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans (1751–1832), French inventor
*François Jouffroy (1806–1882) ...
(Paris, 1899). Many of his articles have been collected by
Goyau
Georges Goyau (31 May 1869 – 25 October 1939) was a French historian and essayist specializing in religious history.
Biography
Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges Goyau was born in Orléans 31 May 1869, and attended the Lycée d'Orléans before mov ...
under the title "La Vitalité chrétienne" (1901). Here will also be found a series of his unedited meditations, "Omnia instaurare in Christo". Professor
Delbos of the University of Paris published in 1907 the course which Ollé-Laprune had given on reason and rationalism (''La raison et le rationalisme'').
References
*Bazaillas, ''La crise de la croyance'' (Paris, 1901);
*Blondel, ''Léon Ollé-Laprune'' (Paris, 1900);
*Goyau, Preface to ''La Vitalité chrétienne'';
*Delbos, Preface to ''La raison et la rationalisme'';
*Roure in ''Etudes religieuses'' (20 October 1898);
*Boutroux, ''Notice sur M. Ollé-Laprune'', read before the Académie des Sciences morales (Paris, 1900).
External links
''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olle-Laprune, Leon
1839 births
1898 deaths
French philosophers
Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques
19th-century philosophers
Catholic philosophers
French male writers
19th-century male writers