Pierre-Hyacinthe Azaïs

Pierre-Hyacinthe Azaïs (born March 1, 1766, Sorèze, Fr.—died Jan. 22, 1845, Paris) was a philosopher whose optimism was rooted in the idea that human experience is imbued with a natural and harmonious balance between joy and sadness and that it is in this balance that meaning can be discovered. He advocated the idea in the work that first brought him fame, Des compensations dans les destinées humaines, 3 vol. (1809). In a following work, Système...