Helvétius

American  

[hel-vee-shuhs, el-vey-syys] / hɛlˈvi ʃəs, ɛl veɪˈsyüs /

noun

1. Claude Adrien 1715–71, French philosopher.

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Helvétius British  

/ hɛlˈviːʃɪəs, ɛlvesjys /

noun

1. Claude Adrien (klod adriɛ̃). 1715–71, French philosopher. In his chief work De l'Esprit (1758), he asserted that the mainspring of human action is self-interest and that differences in human intellects are due only to differences in education

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Example Sentences

“I disapprove of what you say,” he is said to have written to the philosopher Claude Helvétius, “but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

From Time • May 5, 2015

As he finished these words the new Madame Helvétius entered with the nectar, and I recognized her immediately as my former American friend Mrs. Franklin!

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 15 by Various

Madame Helvétius was known to her friends as "Our Lady of Auteuil."

From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume I (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Bruce, Wiliam Cabell

As he was saying this, the new Madame Helvétius entered with the nectar, and I recognized her instantly as my former American amie, Mrs. Franklin.

From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume I (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Bruce, Wiliam Cabell

Godwin answers that question as the French school, and in particular Helvétius, had done, by a preliminary assault on the assumptions of a reactionary philosophy.

From Shelley, Godwin and Their Circle by Brailsford, Henry Noel