Beschreibung:

HELVETIUS, CLAUDE ADRIEN. 1715-1771. De L'homme. London [i.e. The Hague]: Chez la Société Typographique, 1773. 2 volumes. 8vo (198 x 119 mm). Engraved scallop-shell device to title page. Contemporary calf, gilt edges, morocco spine label.
Provenance: Adam Smith (his book-plate to each volume).
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SELF-INTEREST—ADAM SMITH'S COPY OF HELVESTIUS'S MASTERPIECE ON HUMAN NATURE AND THE VIRTUE OF SELF-INTEREST. The most notorious social philosopher of the French enlightenment, Claude Adrien Helvetius articulated an egalitarian and utilitarian philosophy anchored in physical sensation and Locke's empiricism. Helvetius' philosophy in many ways epitomizes the French Enlightenment: Helvetius conceived morality to be a science, and he held education to be the key to social progress and optimal polity. While he is most famous for endorsing the view that self-interest is the only real motive of human behavior, Helvetius yet had great faith in humanity's potential—a faith which found confirmation in the principles articulated in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Helvetius wrote two all-encompassing classics of social thought, De l'esprit ("On the Mind") and De l'homme ("On Man"), both of which were owned by Adam Smith. The 1758 publication of De l'esprit provoked a firestorm of denunciation for its unorthodox views, both from the religious right and the academic left, and the book was publicly burned. Despite its harsh reception, however, De l'esprit became a best seller, though Helvetius, wishing to live in peace, cautiously deferred publication of De l'homme until after his death. De l'homme articulates Helvetius' philosophy even more forcefully than De l'esprit, and it specifically gives expanded scope to issues of political economy (Section VI). Both books were uncompromisingly republican and revolutionary in philosophy and tone, and together they constitute "one of the most important connecting links between the Enlightenment and the French Revolution" (Wootton, p 309) Indeed, "The achievements of Helvetius were so great and so widespread was his fame, that many people have noted that the Revolution not only vindicated his unswerving belief in social progress, but also revealed the faith of the revolutionary movement in the correctness of Helvetian philosophy. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, with its bold pronouncements on the equality and liberty of all men, remains a living testimonial to Helvetius and the causes he persuasively and ardently championed" (Horowitz, Claude Helvetius: Philosopher of Democracy and Enlightenment, p 22).
David Hume, Smith's mentor, introduced Smith to Helvetius's thought in 1759. Four years later, when Smith traveled to France in 1764, he frequented Helvetius's circle and salon, there meeting the leading French philosophes and physiocrats and discussing social policy and political economy. As famed economist Abbe Morellet recalls of Smith in his Memoires: "'M. Turgot, who like me loved things metaphysical, estimated his talents greatly. We saw him several times; he was presented at the house of M. Helvetius; we talked of commercial theory, banking, public credit and several points in the great work he was meditating' (Morellet, Memoires v 1, p 237). Of course, the "great work" was meditating was his Wealth of Nations.
The question of Helvetius's influence on Smith touches at the very core of the famous "Adam Smith Problem," which seeks to reconcile the seemingly opposed moral compasses of Smith's two major works: namely, the sympathy-for-others promoted in "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" and the self-interest promoted in "The Wealth of Nations." Indeed, scholars have discussed Helvetius's influence on Smith for almost 150 years.
According to Hiroshi Mizuta's introduction to his important Adam Smith's Library: A Catalogue (Cambridge, 2000): "Like most authors of his time, when Smith quoted or referred in his writings to the works of others he did not give exact references, in many cases he did not even mention the author or title." He emphasizes that the catalogue of Smith's library provides valuable insight into the "sources of his multi-dimensional thought." Mizuta's catalogue identifies all of the known works from Smith's library, tracing them from the very first catalogue of the library, made by Smith himself in 1781, where both De l'homme and De l'esprit appear. Most of Smith's former library is held in institutions, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Tokyo, and books from his library rarely appear in the market, particularly titles thought to have had a tangible connection to his work. This copy of De l'homme, the last work of Helvetius, whose connection to Smith's great work Wealth of Nations has been part of the historical dialogue since the 19th-century, sheds more light on the life and thought of the father of modern economics.
REFERENCES:
Horowitz, Irving Louis. Claude Helvetius: Philosopher of Democracy and Enlightenment. New York, 1954
Tchemerzine VI, p 192 (d).
Wootton, D. "Helvetius - From radical enlightenment to revolution." Political Theory, 28(3), 2000, pp 307-336.