NATURAL PHILOSOPHY IN FRANCE 



Spinoza, Leibniz, and Malebranche. In his 

 work, ' L'essai sur I'Origine des Connaissances 

 Humaines,' he elaborated the ideas of Locke and 

 proved that not only the soul, but also the senses, 

 not only the art of producing ideas, but also the 

 art of sense-perceptions, was a matter of experi- 

 ence and habit. The entire development of man 

 therefore depends on education and external cir- 

 cumstances. . . . From Helvetius, who like- 

 wise takes his departure from Locke, materialism 

 received its specific French character. He also 

 takes into consideration the social life, in his 

 work, ' De L'Homme! The senses and self-love, 

 enjoyment and a well understood personal inter- 

 est, are the basis of all morality. The natural 

 equality of human intelligences, the identity of 

 the progress of reason and the progress of indus- 

 try, the natural goodness of man, the omnipotence 

 of education, are the main points of his system. 



" A combination of Cartesian and English ma- 

 terialism is found in the writings of Lamettrie. 

 He utilized the physics of Descartes to their mi- 

 nutest details. His machine-man is an elabora- 

 tion of the Cartesian machine-animal. In the 

 ' Systeme de la Nature' of Holbach, the physical 

 part consists likewise of a combination of French 

 and English materialism, while the ethical part 



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