Yves Marie André (1675–1764), also known as le Père André, was a French Jesuit

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, philosopher, and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

. André entered the Society of Jesus in 1693. Although distinguished in his scholastic studies, he adhered to

Gallicanism Gallicanism is the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarch's or the state's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the Pope. Gallicanism is a rejection of ultramontanism; it has so ...

and

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

and was thus considered unsuitable for responsible office by Church authorities. He therefore pursued scientific studies and became royal professor of mathematics at Caen. He is best known for his ''Essai sur le Beau'' (''Essay on Beauty''), a 1741 philosophical work on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

, which made him famous at the time and remained a well-known work into the 19th century.André, ''Essai sur le Beau'' in ''Œuvres Philosophiques'' (Paris: Adolphe Delahays, 1843).

References

External links

Œuvres Philosophiques du Père André
Collected works on the

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Essay on Beauty
Annotated English translation of ''Essai sur le Beau'' 17th-century French Jesuits French essayists Jansenists 1675 births 1764 deaths 18th-century French Jesuits 17th-century French mathematicians 18th-century French mathematicians 18th-century French philosophers French male essayists 18th-century essayists 18th-century French male writers 17th-century French male writers {{France-mathematician-stub