born April 21, 1828, Vouziers, Ardennes, France
died March 5, 1893, Paris
French thinker, critic, and historian.
Taine came to believe as a youth that knowledge must be based on sense experience, observation, and controlled experiment, a conviction that guided his career. Teaching at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1864–83), he earned a reputation as one of the most esteemed exponents of 19th-century French positivism with his attempts to apply the scientific method to the study of the humanities. His works include a History of English Literature (1863–64), containing an explanation of his approach to cultural and literary history and his scientific attitude toward criticism; On Intelligence (1871), a study in psychology; and his monumental historical analysis Les Origines de la France contemporaine , 3 vol. (1876–99).