François Hemsterhuis

François Hemsterhuis (27 December 1721 – 7 July 1790) was a Dutch writer on aesthetics and moral philosophy.

Through his philosophical writings he became acquainted with many distinguished persons—Goethe, Herder, Princess Adelheid Amalie Gallitzin, and especially Jacobi, with whom he had much in common.

Its foundation was the desire for self-knowledge and truth, untrammelled by the rigid bonds of any particular system.

[1] His most important works, all of which were written in French, are: A collected edition of his works was made by P. S. Meijboom (1846-1850); see also S. A. Gronemann, F. Hemsterhuis, de Nederlandische Wijsgeer (Utrecht, 1867); E. Grucker, François Hemsterhuis, sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris, 1866); E. Meyer, Der Philosoph Franz Hemsterhuis (Breslau, 1893), with bibliographical notice;[3] Augustinus P. Dierick, "Pre-Romantic Elements in the aesthetic and moral writings of François Hemsterhuis (1721-1790)."

A bilingual French-Dutch edition was published, introduced and commented on by Michael John Petry in 2001, titled Wijsgerige werken / Frans Hemsterhuis.