Yves Simon

Yves René Marie Simon (14 March 1903 – 11 May 1961) was a French Catholic political philosopher. He studied under Jacques Maritain at the Institut Catholique de Paris. He taught at the Institut Catholique de Lille from 1930 to 1938. In 1938, he went to the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, as a visiting professor. Due to World War II, he was unable to return to France and remained at Notre Dame until 1948. He then joined the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, where he taught until his retirement in 1958 due to illness. Simon died of cancer in South Bend, Indiana, on 11 May 1961. He is considered one of the world's "most original and distinguished political theorists." Simon left many unfinished materials at his death, with many publications appearing posthumously. His son, Anthony O. Simon, leads the Yves R. Simon Institute, dedicated to publishing these materials. Simon's papers are housed at the University of Notre Dame. Simon was trained in Thomism and scholastic philosophy. He is best known for his contributions to moral and political philosophy, where he defended the traditional Thomistic view of moral action and virtues. He asserted that this perspective was compatible with Western liberal democracy, challenging the notion that French Catholic adherence to monarchy was faith-supported.