BONNET, Charles. — Psychologist and naturalist, b. Geneva 13 March 1720, d. there 20 June 1793. A complex figure whose works bear the imprint of his scientific training and the divergent philosophical tendencies then dominant. B. in fact carried to far-reaching conclusions both Hartley’s associationism and Condillac’s sensism. Yet undeniable too is the doctrinal kinship with Leibniz in the theory of metamorphosis that B. terms palingenesis. As a naturalist B. discovered the parthenogenesis of aphids.
Principal works: Essai de psychologie (London 1754); Considérations sur les corps organisés (2 vols., Amsterdam 1762); Contemplation de la nature (ibid. 1764–65); Palingénésie philosophique (Geneva 1769); Recherches philosophiques sur les preuves du christianisme (ibid. 1669–1770). All are collected in Œuvres complètes (10 vols., Neuchâtel 1779–83).