Claude Helvétius, French Philosopher
Claude Adrien Helvétius (January 26, 1715 - December 26, 1771) was a French philosopher, freemason and intellectual. In 1758 he published his philosophical magnum opus, a work called De l'esprit (On Mind), which claimed that all human faculties are attributes of mere physical sensation, and that the only real motive is self-interest, therefore there is no good and evil, only competitive pleasures. Its atheistic, utilitarian and egalitarian doctrines raised a public outcry, and the Sorbonne publicly burned it in 1759, forcing Helvétius to issue several retractions. He retired to a country estate in France, where he employed his fortune in the relief of the poor, the encouragement of agriculture and the development of industries. For this he won the admiration of many of the philosophers. he died in 1771 at the age of 56. Engraving credited to Augustin de Saint-Aubin after After Louis Michel Vanloo, 1772.
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