François Hemsterhuis - Wikipedia François Hemsterhuis From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "François Hemsterhuis" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2012) This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) François Hemsterhuis (27 December 1721 – 7 July 1790) was a Dutch writer on aesthetics and moral philosophy. The son of Tiberius Hemsterhuis, he was born at Franeker in the Netherlands. He was educated at the University of Leiden, where he studied Plato. Failing to obtain a professorship, he entered the service of the state, and for many years acted as secretary to the state council of the United Provinces. He died at the Hague on 7 July 1790. Through his philosophical writings he became acquainted with many distinguished persons--Goethe, Herder, Princess Adelheid Amalie Gallitzin, and especially Jacobi, with whom he had much in common. His most valuable contributions are in the department of aesthetics or the general analysis of feeling. His philosophy has been characterized as Socratic in content and Platonic in form. Its foundation was the desire for self-knowledge and truth, untrammelled by the rigid bonds of any particular system. His most important works, all of which were written in French, are: Lettre sur la sculpture (1769), in which occurs the well-known definition of the Beautiful as "that which gives us the greatest number of ideas in the shortest space of time" its continuation, Lettre sur les désirs (1770) Lettre sur l'homme et ses rapports (1772), in which the "moral organ" and the theory of knowledge are discussed Sophyle (1778), a dialogue on the relation between the soul and the body, and also an attack on materialism Aristée (1779), the "theodicy" of Hemsterhuis, discussing the existence of God and his relation to man Simon (1787), on the four faculties of the soul, which are the will, the imagination, the moral principle (which is both passive and active) Alexis (1787), an attempt to prove that there are three golden ages, the last being the life beyond the grave Lettre sur l'athéisme (1787). A good collected edition of his works is by PS Meijboom (1846-1850); see also SA Gronemann, F. Hemsterhuis, de Nederlandische Wijsgeer (Utrecht, 1867); E Grucker, François Hemsterhuis, sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris, 1866); E Meyer, Der Philosoph Franz Hemsterhuis (Breslau, 1893), with bibliographical notice; Augustinus P. Dierick, “Pre-Romantic Elements in the aesthetic and moral writings of François Hemsterhuis (1721-1790).” Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture 26 (1998), 247–271. A bilingual French-Dutch edition was published, introduced and commented on by Michael John Petry in 2001, titled Wijsgerige werken / Frans Hemsterhuis.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hemsterhuis, François". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 264–265. Authority control BNE: XX889006 BNF: cb11994910g (data) BPN: 44558023 GND: 118549073 ISNI: 0000 0000 8342 7894 LCCN: n84026791 NKC: mzk2007430466 NTA: 068383290 PLWABN: 9810701077505606 RKD: 116046 SELIBR: 256873 SUDOC: 028031903 VcBA: 495/165803 VIAF: 34466051 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n84026791 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=François_Hemsterhuis&oldid=960165231" Categories: 1721 births 1790 deaths 18th-century Dutch philosophers Enlightenment philosophers Leiden University alumni People from Franekeradeel Burials at Pieterskerk, Leiden Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from February 2012 All articles needing additional references Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2012 All articles lacking in-text citations Articles with multiple maintenance issues Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with BPN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with RKDartists identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Dansk Deutsch Français Frysk Latina Nederlands Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 1 June 2020, at 13:17 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement