Émile Bréhier


Émile Bréhier was a French philosopher. His interest was in classical philosophy, and the history of philosophy. He wrote a Histoire de la Philosophie, translated into English in seven volumes.

Life

Bréhier studied at the University of Paris. In 1908 he received his doctorate at the Sorbonne with a dissertation about Philo of Alexandria. From 1910 to 1912 he was Master of Philosophical Conferences at the University of Rennes, and professor of philosophy at the University of Bordeaux from 1912 to 1914. He was Henri Bergson's successor at the University of Paris in 1945. The historian Louis Bréhier was his brother.
In 1914 Bréhier became a sub-lieutenant in the 344th Infantry Regiment; he was made knight of the Légion d'honneur.

Philosophical work

He was an early follower of Bergson; in the 1930s there was an influential view that Bergsonism and Neoplatonism were linked.
He has been called "the sole figure in the French history who adopts an Hegelian interpretation of Neoplatonism", but also a Neo-Kantian opponent of Hegel.

Works

He contributed the articles "Philo Judaeus", and "Stoics and Stoic Philosophy" to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia.