BOUTROUX, EMILE

(1845-1921) French professor at Sorbonne; wrote 1. On the Contingency of the Laws of Nature ; and 2. Science and Religion in Contemporary Philosophy ; held to Philosophy of Spirit ; spirit is ultimate reality but not same as Hegelian thought; man is not only a purely physical being but also a spiritual one; all things (even inanimate things) have a kind of spiritual life of their own; emphasized on spirit as the agent of action, not thought; strong empirical emphasized