His father, a professor of philosophy, gave him an education at the Stanislas College and the École Normale, where he graduated in 1848. After being professor of philosophy at several provincial universities, he received the degree of doctor in 1852 on the subject of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, and came to Paris in 1858 as master of conferences at the École Normale.[2][3]
In 1861 he became inspector of the Academy of Paris, in 1864 professor of philosophy to the Faculty of Letters, and in 1874 a member of the Académie Française.
He married Pauline Cassin, the author of Le Péché de Madeleine and other well-known novels.[2]
In his philosophy, he was mainly concerned to defend Christianity against modern Positivism. The philosophy of Victor Cousin influenced him strongly, but his strength lay in exposition and criticism rather than in original thought.[2]
