Émile Boutroux

Émile Boutroux
Born
Étienne Émile Marie Boutroux

(1845-07-28)28 July 1845
Montrouge, Seine, France
Died22 November 1921(1921-11-22) (aged 76)
Paris, France
Education
EducationÉcole normale supérieure
Heidelberg University
University of Paris (Ph.D., 1874)
Doctoral advisorJules Lachelier
Félix Ravaisson
Philosophical work
Era19th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolFrench spiritualism
InstitutionsUniversity of Nancy
University of Paris
Doctoral studentsVictor Delbos
Main interestsPhilosophy of religion
Notable ideasReligion and science as compatible
The contingent character of the laws of nature

Étienne Émile Marie Boutroux (/bˈtr/; French: [butʁu]; 28 July 1845 – 22 November 1921) was a French philosopher of science and a historian of philosophy. He was a firm opponent of materialism in science. He was a spiritualist philosopher who defended the idea that religion and science are compatible at a time when the power of science was rising inexorably. His work is overshadowed in the English-speaking world by that of the more celebrated Henri Bergson. He was elected membership of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1898 and in 1912 to the Académie française.