Claude-Adrien Helvétius was born into a highly respected medical family; his father was first physician to the queen of France. After his education at the College Louis-le-Grand and at the age of only twenty-three, Helvétius obtained, through influence at court, the lucrative post of fermier-général, in which he soon grew rich. He became known, however, for the philanthropic and enlightened uses he made of his great wealth, particularly as a patron of philosophers and men of letters. For a time Helvétius turned to poetry and, in a piece titled Le bonheur, extolled the supreme pleasures of the intellectual life. Taking his own advice, he resigned in 1751 from tax-farming, married, and retired to his country estate, thenceforth devoting himself primarily to philosophical and literary pursuits. The publication in 1758 of his principal work, De l'esprit...