Maître à penser is a French-language phrase, denoting a teacher whom one chooses, in order to learn not just a set of facts or point of view, but a way of thinking. It translates literally as "master for thinking".
To take a maître à penser is therefore close to becoming a disciple. The phrase itself can be used to refer to a type of person — an inspirational genius, for example — who naturally would attract followers interested enough to absorb a whole intellectual approach.
A maître à penser is therefore possibly something like a mentor, or guru with a possibly beneficent approach. A negative effect of such a master might be to close down all other intellectual avenues in a student, imposing some schematic or monolithic approach. Such a master receives the French pejorative maître-penseur.
References
edit- Claudia W. Ruitenberg (7 April 2017). Reconceptualizing Study in Educational Discourse and Practice. Taylor & Francis. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-317-31239-0.