Victor Cousin

Victor Cousin
Portrait by Gustave Le Gray
Born28 November 1792
Paris, France
Died14 January 1867(1867-01-14) (aged 74)
Cannes, France
Education
Alma materÉcole Normale
Academic advisorsPierre Laromiguière
Pierre Paul Royer-Collard
Philosophical work
EraLate modern philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolContinental philosophy
Eclectic spiritualism
InstitutionsUniversity of Paris
École Normale
Notable studentsJean Philibert Damiron, Paul Janet, Théodore Jouffroy, Félix Ravaisson, Jules Simon
Main interestsOntology, epistemology
Notable ideasThe two principles of reason (cause and substance) as a passage from psychology (the science of knowledge) to ontology (the science of being)

Victor Cousin (/kˈzæn/; French: [kuzɛ̃]; 28 November 1792 – 14 January 1867) was a French philosopher. He was the founder of "eclecticism", a briefly influential school of French philosophy that combined elements of German idealism and Scottish Common Sense Realism. As the administrator of public instruction for over a decade, Cousin also had an important influence on French educational policy.