Baron d'Holbach
Paul Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, known as d'Holbach, was a Franco-German philosopher, encyclopedist and writer, who was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon. He helped in the dissemination of "Protestant and especially German thought", particularly in the field of the sciences, but was known more for his atheism and voluminous writings against religion, famously including The System of Nature (1770) and The Universal Morality (1776).
Background
- Born in
- Edesheim
- Educated at
- Leiden University
Trending & Selected Quotes
Trending topics shown first"The preacher recommended peace and concord; dispositions necessary to a new born, weak, and persecuted sect; but this necessity ceased when this sect had attained strength enough to dictate the law."
"Jesus caused a fig-tree to die in twenty-four hours to punish it for not producing figs at a season when it was physically impossible for it to bear any; that is about the month of March. As all the a…"
"We are all just cogs in a machine, doing what we were always meant to do, with no actual volition."
"To wonder at the order of nature, is to wonder that any thing can exist; it is to be surprised at one's own existence."
"The dogma of the resurrection of Jesus is only attested by men whose subsistence depended on that absurd romance; and as roguery continually belies itself, these witnesses could not agree among themse…"
"Jesus, whose birth was very equivocal, had particular reasons for wishing that adultery should be treated with indulgence. Independently of Mary his mother, from whom Joseph was probably separated, ou…"
Works & Publications
No works or publications documented yet.
Timeline
1723
Born
Birth1789
Died
Death
Influenced By
Thinkers whose ideas shaped Baron's philosophy
No known influences documented.
Influenced
Thinkers whose work was shaped by Baron's ideas
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Source Attribution
Information about Baron d'Holbach is sourced from curated knowledge bases and cross-referenced for accuracy. Influence relationships are scored by thematic overlap and historical plausibility.
