Abstract
There are, for Helvetius, a certain number of fundamental points: the individual is led, spontaneously, to seek pleasure and to avoid pain, and this engenders self-esteem; having realized what his needs are, the search for objects able to satisfy them determines his behaviour; personal interest governs his decisions, and these vary as interests do according to individuals, the social environment and the era; education, custom and environment form the whole man; men would be equally happy if they could fill all the different moments of their lives agreeably.
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Bibliography
Garaudy, R. 1948. Les sources françaises du socialisme scientifique. Paris: Editions Sociales.
Horowitz, I.L. 1954. C. Helvetius. New York: Paine, Whitman.
Keim, H. 1907. Helvetius – sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris: Alcan.
Lichtenberger, H. 1895. Le socialisme au XVIIIème siècle. Paris: Alcan.
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Wolff, J. (2018). Helvetius, Claude Adrien (1715–1771). In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1055
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