Taine


Taine

T0018600 (tān, tĕn), Hippolyte Adolphe 1828-1893. French philosopher and historian who was a leading exponent of positivism and wrote the six-volume Origins of Contemporary France (1876-1894).

Taine

(French tɛn) n (Biography) Hippolyte Adolphe (ipɔlit adɔlf). 1828–93, French literary critic and historian. He applied determinist criteria to the study of literature, art, history, and psychology, regarding them as products of environment and race. His works include Histoire de la littérature anglaise (1863–64) and Les Origines de la France contemporaine (1875–93)