Jean-Baptiste-René Robinet

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Jean-Baptiste-René Robinet (born June 23, 1735 in Rennes ; † March 24, 1820 there ; often cited as Jean-Baptiste Robinet or René Robinet) was a French natural philosopher and encyclopaedist .

Live and act

Robinet was born in Rennes as the son of a printer at the local parliament . He attended a school run by Jesuits and was very close to the order during this time. Probably had also joined the order. After leaving the order, he first went to Paris and in 1760 to Amsterdam , where he married his wife Gesina Regtering in March and April of that year. In addition to the translation of the works of David Hume about the Essais de morale (1760) and several other English writers, including Frances Sheridan (1724-1766), John Langhorne (1735-1779) and James Kenneth Ridley (1736-1765) he was for a number of magazines, dictionaries operating.

Robinet became known as an early pioneer of the theory of evolution and as one of those who continued the Encyclopédie project by Denis Diderot .

Robinet was initially a Jesuit , but soon left the order. In 1778 he became a royal censor, censeur royal in Paris. He postulated a universal evolution from monad-like archetypes to complex organisms. The most highly developed link in this evolution is man.

The purpose of all natural development according to Robinet is man himself. A force must be accepted that causes all this development in the world. This power manifests itself primarily in the organic germs that make up the world. The universe must be understood as pervasive and generally animated. Robinet refused, however, to ascribe a personality to the creative, living power of the universe, since the infinite cannot be described by attaching finite properties - not even those of the highest of all. This means that the underlying cause of all evolution is simply not recognizable.

Works (selection)

  • De la nature
    • 1st edition, Amsterdam 1761
    • 2nd edition, Amsterdam 1763
    • 3rd edition, Amsterdam 1766
  • Considérations philosophiques de la gradation naturelle, Paris 1768, Amsterdam 1769
  • Les vertus, réflexions morales en vers, Rennes 1814
  • Parallèle de la condition et des facultès de l'homme, avec celles des autres animeaux, trad. De l'anglais, Bouillon 1769

literature

  • Article: “Robinet, Jean Baptiste”, in: Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, 19th edition, Volume 18, p., Mannheim 1992, ISBN 3-7653-1118-9
  • Article: “Development” and “Theory of Evolution”, in: Historical Dictionary of Philosophy , Volume 2, p. 552 (development) and p. 836 (evolution theory)
  • Reinhard Albert: Robinet's philosophy , dissertation, Leipzig 1903
  • Rudolf Eisler : Philosophenlexikon , Berlin 1912, p. 607 f .: Jean-Baptiste Robinet
  • Heide Klinkhammer: Art and Nature, Production and Reception. Art theories in the 18th century . In: Critical Reports, Volume 14, 1986, Issue 1, pp. 27–44
  • Karl Rosenkranz : Robinet , in: Der Gedanke I (1861), 126 ff.
  • Werner Ziegenfuß , Gertrud Jung: Philosophen-Lexikon, concise dictionary of philosophy according to persons , Volume 2, L - Z, article "Jean-Baptiste-René Robine", page 365, Berlin 1950 (Walter de Gruyter)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dictionnaire des journalistes (1600-1789) 694. Jean Baptiste ROBINET (1735-1820)
  2. ↑ encyclopedia.com

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Robinet, Jean-Baptiste-René
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robinet, Jean-Baptiste (maiden name); Robinet, René
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French natural philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1735
PLACE OF BIRTH Rennes
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1820
Place of death Rennes