Claude Adrien Helvétius

Background

Claude Adrien Helvétius was born on January 25, 1715, in Paris into a family of noted physicians.

Education

Taught by private tutor until 11, Claude attended France's leading school, the Jesuits' Louis-le-grand. To prepare Helvétius for the remunerative post of tax collector, his father apprenticed him to his uncle, already in such a position. At Caen, Helvétius studied more than finance: he wrote poetry; he read John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, and Sir Isaac Newton; and he indulged himself in the pleasures of the town.

Career

Through influence of the Queen, his father procured for Helvétius a post as tax collector. This position required him to travel much in the provinces, and he became painfully aware of the state of the rural economy. From 1738 to 1751 his home was Paris. In 1751 he married and retired to a country estate at Voré. By 1755 Helvétius had produced De l'esprit. On July 15, 1758, the book was offered for sale in Paris. By early August difficulties began for Helvétius and lasted until his death in 1771. He was exiled for 2 years from Paris, and the sale of his book was forbidden. Publicly burned, placed on the Index, condemned by Jansenist and Jesuit alike, the work was attacked even by other philosophes. Some of them found it narrow and empty; others thought its boldness frightening. In 1764 Helvétius visited England and in 1765, Prussia. He was struck by the great disparity of wealth found among the "free" English. England's commercialism, he said, had "made corruption legal. " By 1769 Helvétius had finished De l'homme and turned to reworking his early poem Du bonheur. On December 4, 1771, he and his family left Voré for the winter's stay in Paris. On December 26, following severe gout attacks, Helvétius died surrounded by his family.

Achievements

• Claude Adrien Helvétius advocated political and social equality for all men and held that education and legislation were the means to attain this goal.

Works

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• book

  • Correspondance générale d'Helvétius, Vol. 5 (French Edition)

    ( This fifth and final volume completes the critical edit...)

  • De L'esprit: Or Essays on the Mind, and Its Several Faculties (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from De L'esprit: Or Essays on the Mind, and Its ...)

  • oeuvres complèttes de Mr. Helvétius: Tome 3: De l'homme. Tome 1 (French Edition)

    (This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 17...)

  • A Treatise on Man, His Intellectual Faculties and His Education, Vol. 1: A Posthumous Work of M. Helvetius; Translated From the French, With Additional Notes (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from A Treatise on Man, His Intellectual Facultie...)

  • De l'esprit; or, Essays on the Mind, and Its Several Faculties: Translated from the French. To Which Is Now Prefixed, a Life of the Author

    (This Elibron Classics edition is a facsimile reprint of a...)

  • De l'homme

Views

Helvétius taught that man depended for all his knowledge on sensation and that his motives were those of self-love. For Helvétius the truly virtuous man is he who finds his pleasure-not just his obligation-in working for the common good. Most religions, he held, were ineffectual and offered hypocritical bases for morality. Differences in men's behavior stem from differences in station and education rather than from inherent differences. So, legislation that pertains to the structure of society and education accorded to all by the state are the fit means to procure an increase in man's happiness. In economics too Helvétius' views were radical, and he traced the unhappiness of men and nations to unequal distribution of wealth.

Quotations: "The degree of genius necessary to please us is pretty nearly the same proportion that we ourselves have. "

"To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or knaves. "

"A man who believes that he eats his God we do not call mad; yet, a man who says he is Jesus Christ, we call mad. "

"Discipline is, in a manner, nothing else but the art of inspiring the soldiers with greater fear of their officers than of the enemy. This fear has often the effect of courage: but it cannot prevail against the fierce and obstinate valor of people animated by fanaticism, or warm love of their country. "

"There are men whom a happy disposition, a strong desire of glory and esteem, inspire with the same love for justice and virtue which men in general have for riches and honors. But the number of these men is so small that I only mention them in honor of humanity. "

"The men of sense, the idols of the shallow, are very inferior to the men of passions. It is the strong passions which, rescuing us from sloth, impart to us that continuous and earnest attention necessary to great intellectual efforts. "

"There is but one man who can believe himself free from envy; and it is he who has never examined his own heart. "

Personality

Helvétius was a handsome man, he was also a good dancer, with a great passion for women, he circulated vigorously in Parisian society. But by 1749 he longed for a life of repose so as to write. Except for the tours and occasional trips to Paris, Helvétius' remaining years were spent at Voré and were for him rather melancholy ones. Harvests were poor, and attacks of gout prevented his participation in sports, which, in addition to women, were said to be his real passion.

Connections

He was married Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius.

Father:

Jean Claude Adrien Helvétius

Wife:

Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius

References

• The Philosophy Of Helvetius: With Special Emphasis On The Educational Implications Of Sensationalism
• Claude Helvetius: Philosopher Of Democracy And Enlightenment
• Helvetius: A Study in Persecution