HELVÉTIUS, CLAUDE-ADRIEN. — Philosopher, born in Paris in January 1715 to Gian Claudio, a physician of renown; he died there on 26 December 1771. Initially attracted, while still at the Collège de Louis le Grand, by the writings of La Fontaine and Boileau, he became an admirer and follower of Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding. His thought, of limited originality and depth, combines the Enlightenment, deism, and sensationalism, tending toward a decided materialism.
Principal works: Le bonheur (in verse, posthumous ed. by C. F. de St-Lambert, Paris 1773), in which he develops the idea that happiness is to be sought rather in pursuing one’s own interest than that of all; De l’esprit (ibid. 1758; placed on the Index by a brief of 31 January 1759), a work that caused a great stir, winning the support of admirers and provoking vigorous opposition: it was condemned by the Sorbonne and publicly burned by order of Parliament; De l’homme, de ses facultés et de son éducation (posthumous, London 1772; placed on the Index by decree of 29 August 1774); Le vrai sens du système de la nature (ibid. 1774); Les progrès de la raison dans la recherche du vrai (ibid. 1775).
H. limits his interest to moral psychology, ethics, and their applications. Like Fondillac, he reduces the activity of the mind, including judging and therefore thinking, to mere sensation. In ethics, he posits personal selfish interest as the sole motive of all human actions; laws and education are of the greatest importance, their task being to bring about the greatest possible agreement
between the general good and private interest. H. has unlimited confidence in education. Chapter 1, section 10, of volume II of De l’homme (1772) is entitled L'éducation peut tout (London ed. 1765, p. 421).
With regard to religion, to which he is particularly hostile, H. shares, often in a more violent form, the negative attitude common among the Enlightenment thinkers: « C'est toujours à sa raison que l'homme honnête obéira de préférence à la révélation. Il est, dira-t-il, plus certain que Dieu est l'auteur de la raison humaine, c'est à dire, de la faculté que l'homme a de discerner le vrai du faux, qu'il n'est certain que ce même Dieu soit l'auteur d'un tel livre » (De l'homme, ed. cit., note 11, p. 201).
According to H., almost all religions would deserve condemnation, because they prohibit the use of reason and make human beings unhappy and cruel (ibid., p. 13).