Hippolyte Taine Quotes

Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was born in Vouziers, France. He was a French critic, historian and philosopher. He excelled as a student, receiving a number of prizes in both scientific and humanistic subjects, and taking two Baccalauréat degrees at the École Normale before he was 20. He completed a doctorate at the Sorbonne in 1853. He was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. He is particularly remembered for his three-pronged approach to the contextual study of a work of art, based on the aspects of what he called "race, milieu, and moment". He wrote several books include: Notes on England, The Philosophy of Art, Art in the Netherlands, History of English literature, The Ancient Regime, The Modern Regime, French revolution, and Balzac:A Critical Study.