Jean-Baptiste Dubos

Jean -Baptiste Dubos (* in December 1670 in Beauvais, † March 23, 1742 in Paris, also: Du Bos ) was a French theologian, esthetician and historian of the Enlightenment.

Dubos studied theology and law, and was for a while employed in the civil service before he devoted himself entirely to writing. 1720, he was admitted to the Académie française, whose secretary for many years he was. In his historical works he exhibited at controversial theses that were including from Montesquieu. As Abbé, he was also a lower clergyman.

In the German -speaking area Dubos was known primarily for his aesthetic critiques sur la poésie font Réflexions et sur ​​la peinture ( Critical reflections on poetry and painting, 1719). In it, he argued against a strict rule-based artists, as they dominated until the 18th century, and introduced instead the effect of the artwork and the public's taste in the foreground. He reiterated that there are the duties of poetry and painting, ( " to touch and please " ) " de toucher et de plaire ". Art should not only be beautiful, but must move the heart. Thus Dubos became a founder of the so-called sensitivity, an era of upheaval and criticism of rationalism after the death of the Sun King.

Dubos ' writing had influenced the development of theater and music in the 18th century. Jean -Jacques Rousseau radicalized a generation later his views.

Works

• Histoire des quatre Gordiens, prouvée et illustrée par les médailles ( 1695)
• Les Interests de l' Angleterre mal entendus dans la guerre présente (1703)
• Histoire de la ligue faite à Cambray entre Jules II, Maximilien Ier, Louis XII, Ferdinand V, et tous les princes d' Italie, contre la république de Venise ( 1709)
• Critiques sur la poésie et Réflexions la peinture ( 1719)
• Histoire critique de l' établissement de la monarchy française dans les Gaulle (1734 )