| Claude Adrien Helvetius was a devout materialist, as were most of his confreres in the 'enlightened' circles of eighteenth-century Paris. What set Helvetius apart from his fellows was the extreme nature of his commitment. Other philosophes retained materialist ideas, yet subscribed to the notion of in-born talent. Helvetius differed, believing all to be similarly capable, and thereby equally responsive to the beneficial stimulus which education could be. That education determines human achievement was the theory which Helvetius adopted from Locke, and developed as the core of his philosophy.;Helvetius found little sympathy for his ideas though. Other materialists shunned his views as naive and extreme, and Rousseau took them as a sounding-board to articulate his counter-Enlightenment philosophy. So effective was Rousseau in this respect that, from the era of materialist-based educational theory, his are the (educational) ideas which are widely viewed as typifying the age (and inspiring the Romantic era which followed). However, Helvetius' ideas polarized Rousseau's views, or sharpened the Genevan's treatment of education in Emile.;Rousseau's was not a new educational philosophy, but largely an adaptation of Locke's educational ideas, in opposition to Helvetius' treatise. Helvetius provided a focus against which Rousseau articulated his pedagogy. Rousseau's work, however, and the materialist criticisms of the d'Holbach coterie, eroded Helvetius' profile as a philosopher.;Nevertheless, Bentham saw tools for social improvement in Helvetius' call for related improvement in education and legislation, and the human tendency to pursue pleasure. He mounted a life-long campaign of political lobbying, and, through what became the Utilitarian movement, influenced the progress of social justice. But, Bentham did not acknowledge mentors after the early years, and Helvetius' ideas became absorbed as Benthamite, or Utilitarian.;This dissertation examines how Helvetius' ideas provided the focus for the Utilitarian's pursuit of education as a facilitator of social justice, and the way in which, inadvertently, Helvetius enhanced Rousseau's reputation as an educational theorist. It particularly aims to assert Helvetius' important role in the development of enlightened educational ideas. |
