Émile Bréhier

Émile Bréhier (; 12 April 1876 – 3 February 1952) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. He wrote a Histoire de la Philosophie, translated into English in seven volumes. This work inspired Frederick Copleston's own History of Philosophy (1946–1975), initially comprising nine volumes.

Life In 1908, Bréhier received his doctorate from the Sorbonne with a dissertation on thoughts of 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.

In 1914, Bréhier became a sub-lieutenant in the 344th Infantry Regiment; later, he was made a knight of the Légion d'honneur.

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 Les idées philosophiques et religieuses de Philon d'Alexandrie, (1908) La Théorie des incorporels dans l'ancien stoïcisme, Paris, Librairie Alphonse Picard & fils (1907). Schelling (1912) Histoire de la philosophie allemande (1921) La Philosophie de Plotin Plotin: Ennéades (with French translation), Collection Budé (1924–1938) Histoire de la philosophie – I: Antiquité et moyen âge (three volumes), II: La philosophie moderne (four volumes) La philosophie du moyen âge (1949) Le monde byzantin – la civilisation byzantine (1950) Chrysippe et l'ancien stoïcisme (Paris, 1951) Histoire de la philosophie allemande, 3rd edition updated by Paul Ricœur (1954). Études de philosophie antique (1955)

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