We received this post today at Facebook:
QuoteHas somebody here studied Helvetius?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Adrien_Helv%C3%A9tius
I noticed that nobody mentions him here. I haven't studied or read any of his work, but based on the discription in Wikipedia, there are clear similarities.
I responded:
That's a great question and not someone I am familiar with, but I see this at wikipedia - "In 1758 Helvétius 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. "
I see also that he was associated with Frederick the Great, who was a known fan of Lucretius.
Thanks very much for this post and we'll see what others come up with. He definitely looks work looking into!
So as we have time, let's look into him!