The System of Nature
Encyclopedia
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
by Paul Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach
Baron d'Holbach
Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach was a French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon...
(1723–1789). It was originally published under the name of Jean-Baptiste de Mirabaud
Jean-Baptiste de Mirabaud
Jean-Baptiste de Mirabaud was a French writer and translator.-His life and work:He studied with the Oratorians and fought at the battle of Steenkerque in 1692. A friend of Jean de La Fontaine, he wrote various works of literature, history and philosophy, but failed to publish them...
, a deceased member of the French Academy of Science. D'Holbach wrote and published this book – possibly with the assistance of Diderot – anonymously in 1770, describing the universe in terms of the principles of philosophical materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
: The mind is identified with brain, there is no "soul" without a living body, the world is governed by strict deterministic
Determinism
Determinism is the general philosophical thesis that states that for everything that happens there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could happen. There are many versions of this thesis. Each of them rests upon various alleged connections, and interdependencies of things and...
laws, free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
is an illusion, there are no final causes, and whatever happens takes places because it inexorably must. Most notoriously, the work explicitly denies the existence of God
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, arguing that belief in a higher being is the product of fear, lack of understanding, and anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
.
Though not a scientist himself, d'Holbach was scientifically literate and he tried to develop his philosophy in accordance with the known facts of nature and the scientific knowledge of the day, citing, for example, the experiments of John Needham
John Needham
John Turberville Needham FRS was an English biologist and Roman Catholic priest.He was first exposed to natural philosophy while in seminary school and later published a paper which, while the subject was mostly about geology, described the mechanics of pollen and won recognition in the botany...
as proof that life could develop autonomously without the intervention of a deity. It makes a critical distinction between mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
as a more or less benign way of bringing law ordered thought on society, nature and their powers to the masses
Hoi polloi
Hoi polloi , an expression meaning "the many", or in the strictest sense, "the majority" in Greek, is used in English to denote "the masses" or "the people", usually in a derogatory sense. Synonyms for "hoi polloi" include ".....
and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. Theology which, when it separates from mythology raises the power of nature above nature itself and thus alienates the two (i.e. "nature", all that actually exists, from its power, now personified in a being outside nature), is by contrast a pernicious force in human affairs without parallel.
The book was considered extremely radical in its day and the list of people writing refutations of the work was long. The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
had its pre-eminent theologian Nicolas-Sylvestre Bergier
Nicolas-Sylvestre Bergier
Nicolas-Sylvestre Bergier was a French Catholic theologian. He was a critic of the philosophes, accusing them in particular of distorting the facts on social life in China and Confucianism.-Life:...
write a refutation titled Examen du matérialisme ("Materialism examined"). Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, too, seized his pen to refute the philosophy of the Système in the article "Dieu" in his Dictionnaire philosophique
Dictionnaire philosophique
The Dictionnaire philosophique is an encyclopedic dictionary published by Voltaire in 1764. The alphabetically arranged articles often criticize the Roman Catholic Church and other institutions. The first edition, released in June of 1764, went by the name of Dictionnaire Philosphique Portatif. It...
, while Frederick the Great also drew up an answer to it. Its principles are summed up in a more popular form in d'Holbach's Bon Sens, ou idées naturelles opposees aux idées surnaturelles.