As the son of the Queen's physician, Hélvetius was well-connect in royal circles and given the prestigious office of

fermier général

(collector of taxes) at the early age of 23. He cultivated relations in intellectual circles of the Englightenment, notably with Diderot, Voltaire and others who would be involved in the

Encyclopédie

, married in 1751 and retired to his lands at Voré where he wrote a poem

Le bonheur

which would be published posthumously and a philosophical treatise

De l'esprit [On the mind]

(1758) which, because it was a relatively simple-minded and unoriginal repetition of ideas which were becoming generally current, would become one of the most widely-read philosophical works in the last half of the eighteenth century. In this work Hélvetius followed Locke in arguing…

389 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Claude-Arien Hélvetius". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5192, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5192 Claude-Arien Hélvetius 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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