Octave Hamelin

Octave Hamelin (22 July 1856 in Montpellier – 11 September 1907 in Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales) was a French philosopher. He taught as a professor at the University of Bordeaux (1884-) and the University of Sorbonne (1905-). Hamelin was a close friend of the sociologist Émile Durkheim, with whom he shared an interest in the French philosopher Charles Renouvier. He is also known as a translator of classical Greek philosophers.^{[citation needed]}

Hamelin drowned in 1907, attempting to save two young women.^[1]

Biography

Agrégé in philosophy,^[2] he was a professor at the University of Bordeaux from 1884 and at the Sorbonne (building) from 1905. He is also known for his translations of the Ancient philosophy, and as Marcel Maussteacher.

He was a disciple of Charles Renouvier, founder of neo-criticism, a school that proposed a synthesis of Kantianism, positivism and spiritualism. Hamelin belonged to neo-criticism, although he also drew inspiration from Hegelian dialectics through what he called the “synthetic method”. His main work, Essai sur les éléments principaux de la représentation, examines all categories, leading to a personalist metaphysics. In this work, Hamelin defends a constructivist theory of philosophy, as opposed to Bergsonian intuitionism.

He drowned while trying to save two men swept into a river. He was buried in Bordeaux Protestant cemetery.

Literary works

• Essai sur le éléments principaux de la représentation, 1907
• Le système de Descartes, 1911
• Le système d'Aristote, 1920 (edited by L. Robin)
• Le Système de Renouvier, 1927 (published by P. Mouy)