Claude Yvon
Encyclopedia
The Abbé Claude Yvon was a French
encyclopédiste, a savant who contributed to the Encyclopédie
edited by Denis Diderot
and Jean le Rond d'Alembert
.
, Maine
on the border with Normandy
on 15 April 1714. Nothing is known about his early life, except that he received holy orders before moving to Paris
. There he made a poor living as a teacher at the Sorbonne
, preparing students for their exams, and wrote several anonymous works.
His first work published under his own name were articles in the Encyclopédie on Ame (Soul), Atheé (Atheism), Dieu (God) and several others. In these articles, Yvon gives many arguments in favour of the soul and of God, but proposes that the best arguments are the natural or philosophical ones.
The apparently harmless articles attracted the attention of the official controllers of the philosophical press, who notified the advocate-general, Omer Joly de Fleury. Joly de Fleury wrote a violent indictment of the articles, particularly that on the Soul, which he said was infected with atheism. Voltaire
responded by saying the article was one of the worst in the book, but that contrary to the accusation it was far from supporting materialism but in fact made every effort to oppose materialism. However, in the eyes of the church Yvon, by appealing to rationalist arguments, was in effect an atheist.
, and fled to Holland to avoid the storm. While there, he was employed by the publisher Marc-Michel Rey
as a corrector.
The records of an Amsterdam
masonic lodge
record him speaking on the virtues of the philosopher. From the Dutch Republic
he moved on to Berlin
.
The third volume of the Encylopédie noted that "M. l'abbé Yvon ... est absent". However, his unsigned articles continued to appear in the Encylopédie.
After Pierre Rousseau moved to Liège
, Yvon assisted him in producing the Journal Encyclopédique.
In 1754, Yvon's book La Liberté de conscience resserrée dans les bornes légitimes ("Freedom of conscience confined within legitimate bounds") was published in London
in three volumes. In this book he argued that all religions were naturally intolerant and would attack their enemies, but that civil society should be tolerant of those who disagreed with the religious leaders.
Yvon returned to France at the start of 1762. In 1763, Marc-Michel Rey
in Amsterdam
published a letter from Yvon answering some of Rousseau's criticisms of the Church, and more followed in the ensuing years. The tone of these letters was unexpected to those who had accused him of atheism, but was consistent with his other writings. He accused Rousseau of saying that no laws were good and no governments fair. He said that after making reckless personal attacks on religion and government, things sacred to all people, Rousseau was unrealistic in expecting no outrage against his views.
At the beginning of 1767, Yvon became the editor of the Journal de l'Agriculture. The first two volumes of Yvon's ecclesiastical history appeared in 1778, published in Amsterdam, titled Discours généraux et raisonnés sur l'histoire de l'Église ("General and reasoned discourse on the history of the Church"). Ten more volumes were to follow, but did not appear. The first two drew the attention of the police, who raised the issue with the authorities, resulting in a ban on publication of the third volume. This caused a scandal in the press, and Yvon offered to make any corrections that the censor demanded, but to no avail.
Yvon died in Paris in November 1791.
At the time of his death he was the librarian of the Comte d'Artois.
In retrospect, Yvon had great influence on the Encyclopédie. He was described by one historian as the metaphysician of Diderot's great work.
, treating it as an example of witty and redescriptive rhetoric.
In his article on "Aristotelianism
" he said that Pietro Pomponazzi
had "no God other than Aristotle". He could not accept that Pomponazzi could believe in Christian dogma while presenting a philosopher's views of immortality, determinism and miracles.
Adam Smith
criticized Yvon's article on "Amour" (love) as being too declamatory. He said of the article that it "will tend little to the edification either of the learned or the unlearned reader, and might, one should think, have been omitted even in an Encyclopedia of all arts, sciences and trades".
In Yvon's article on "Freedom", he said that if man is free, he has a spirit. If he has a spirit, he is immortal. If he is immortal, he can have only God as his author. God must therefore be his judge, punishing him for his vices and rewarding him for his virtues. He concluded that liberty would be repugnant to all who chose to live independent of God.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
encyclopédiste, a savant who contributed to the Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
edited by Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
and Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
.
Early career
Yvon was born in MamersMamers
Mamers is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.The neighboring communes are: Commerveil, Saint-Longis, Saint-Rémy-des-Monts, Origny-le-Roux, Suré....
, Maine
Maine (province)
Le Maine is one of the traditional provinces of France . It corresponds to the old county of Maine, with its center, the city of Le Mans.-Location:...
on the border with Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
on 15 April 1714. Nothing is known about his early life, except that he received holy orders before moving to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. There he made a poor living as a teacher at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, preparing students for their exams, and wrote several anonymous works.
His first work published under his own name were articles in the Encyclopédie on Ame (Soul), Atheé (Atheism), Dieu (God) and several others. In these articles, Yvon gives many arguments in favour of the soul and of God, but proposes that the best arguments are the natural or philosophical ones.
The apparently harmless articles attracted the attention of the official controllers of the philosophical press, who notified the advocate-general, Omer Joly de Fleury. Joly de Fleury wrote a violent indictment of the articles, particularly that on the Soul, which he said was infected with atheism. Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
responded by saying the article was one of the worst in the book, but that contrary to the accusation it was far from supporting materialism but in fact made every effort to oppose materialism. However, in the eyes of the church Yvon, by appealing to rationalist arguments, was in effect an atheist.
Later career
Yvon was suspected of contributing to a controversial thesis published in 1752 by Jean-Martin de PradesJean-Martin de Prades
Jean-Martin de Prades was a French Catholic theologian. He became famous through a thesis he presented that was considered irreligious.-Life:...
, and fled to Holland to avoid the storm. While there, he was employed by the publisher Marc-Michel Rey
Marc-Michel Rey
Marc-Michel Rey was an influential publisher in the United Provinces, who published many of the works of the French Philosophes, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau....
as a corrector.
The records of an Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
record him speaking on the virtues of the philosopher. From the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
he moved on to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
The third volume of the Encylopédie noted that "M. l'abbé Yvon ... est absent". However, his unsigned articles continued to appear in the Encylopédie.
After Pierre Rousseau moved to Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Yvon assisted him in producing the Journal Encyclopédique.
In 1754, Yvon's book La Liberté de conscience resserrée dans les bornes légitimes ("Freedom of conscience confined within legitimate bounds") was published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in three volumes. In this book he argued that all religions were naturally intolerant and would attack their enemies, but that civil society should be tolerant of those who disagreed with the religious leaders.
Yvon returned to France at the start of 1762. In 1763, Marc-Michel Rey
Marc-Michel Rey
Marc-Michel Rey was an influential publisher in the United Provinces, who published many of the works of the French Philosophes, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau....
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
published a letter from Yvon answering some of Rousseau's criticisms of the Church, and more followed in the ensuing years. The tone of these letters was unexpected to those who had accused him of atheism, but was consistent with his other writings. He accused Rousseau of saying that no laws were good and no governments fair. He said that after making reckless personal attacks on religion and government, things sacred to all people, Rousseau was unrealistic in expecting no outrage against his views.
At the beginning of 1767, Yvon became the editor of the Journal de l'Agriculture. The first two volumes of Yvon's ecclesiastical history appeared in 1778, published in Amsterdam, titled Discours généraux et raisonnés sur l'histoire de l'Église ("General and reasoned discourse on the history of the Church"). Ten more volumes were to follow, but did not appear. The first two drew the attention of the police, who raised the issue with the authorities, resulting in a ban on publication of the third volume. This caused a scandal in the press, and Yvon offered to make any corrections that the censor demanded, but to no avail.
Yvon died in Paris in November 1791.
At the time of his death he was the librarian of the Comte d'Artois.
In retrospect, Yvon had great influence on the Encyclopédie. He was described by one historian as the metaphysician of Diderot's great work.
Some articles
Yvon wrote or contributed to many articles in the Encyclopédie, which reflected his philosophy. He discussed the Amusement philosophique sur le language des bêtes (Philosophical Amusements on the Language of the Animals) by Guillaume-Hyacinthe BougeantGuillaume-Hyacinthe Bougeant
Guillaume-Hyacinthe Bougeant, known as le Père Bougeant was a French Jesuit and historian....
, treating it as an example of witty and redescriptive rhetoric.
In his article on "Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
" he said that Pietro Pomponazzi
Pietro Pomponazzi
Pietro Pomponazzi was an Italian philosopher. He is sometimes known by his Latin name, Petrus Pomponatius.-Biography:...
had "no God other than Aristotle". He could not accept that Pomponazzi could believe in Christian dogma while presenting a philosopher's views of immortality, determinism and miracles.
Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
criticized Yvon's article on "Amour" (love) as being too declamatory. He said of the article that it "will tend little to the edification either of the learned or the unlearned reader, and might, one should think, have been omitted even in an Encyclopedia of all arts, sciences and trades".
In Yvon's article on "Freedom", he said that if man is free, he has a spirit. If he has a spirit, he is immortal. If he is immortal, he can have only God as his author. God must therefore be his judge, punishing him for his vices and rewarding him for his virtues. He concluded that liberty would be repugnant to all who chose to live independent of God.