Thursday, November 4, 2010

Helvetius, "Essays on the Mind" and "A Treatise on Man"

Helvetius, along with Locke, believes that intelligence and genius are not innate abilities, but that they are acquired through a good education and a goo enviornment.

He says that inequalities in men are not the result of birth, but the enviornemnt around the men when they are young. A better enviornment combined with a better education will create a better man.

In his "A Treatise on Man," Helvetius writes, "Locke and I say: The inequality in minds or understandings, is the effect of a known cause, and this cause is the difference of education." Instead of what others believe, "The understanding is the effect of a certain sort of inferior temperament and organization."

Most people believe that inferior birth is the cause of poverty and unhappiness. While they are certainly connected, one could be born to a lower class family and ascend to the status of a higher class if one has a good education.

"The man of genius is then only produced by the circumstances in which he is placed." Every man who has only moderate abilities has the right to believe that if he had a better upbringing, he would have better abilities.

Helvetius tells us that the quality of a man depends on the governemnt of his country, the state of happiness of the time, his education, the desire to improve, and the importance of the ideas that are circulating around him.

"With this view, examining the effects which nature and education may have upon us, I have perceived that education makes us what we are." In consequence of this, it is the duty of a citizen to carry on this education to perfection.

Timothy Bulso

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