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System of Nature

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Baron d'Holbach shows us how remarkably far Enlightenment philosophy had reached in finding reasonable theories for the cause and the nature of existance. His rationalism demonstrates that the existance of a god is not necessary for the world's existance. It would be a clear example of circular reasoning is someone were to assert a god is indeed necessary for the existance of all things; a god would also need a first cause of existance. Exposing this flaw of reasoning (still in practice amongst relgious groups!) d'Holbach shows in his The System of Nature that existance, and thus the universe, is a combination of causes and consequences, of mechanics.
D'Holbach's phenomenal knowledge of nature and his analytical way of reasoning do not only demonstrate that Enlightenment thinking had reached very far; it also shows that these brave philosophers (the men who gathered at D'Holbach's salon) already declared atheism to be true, when no one knew something about the evolution theory, which was to finally expel religion from science's turf.
The western world ows a lot to D'Holbach; a man who could not publish his work under his own name, as the king of France would have him executed on charges of blasphemy.
Adducing the non-existance of a Creator by means of scientific evidence can hardly be called blasphemy; how could you blaspheme about something that does not exist? Fortunately, also, D'Holbach's freethinking, along with that of American and British rationalists, opened the way to freedom of speech and inquiry that we currently enjoy in modern states.
mrbas_26@hotmail.com

What impresses me the most is how firm, consistent, and bold d'Holbach was in holding certain opinions which at the time were shocking to (most of the) learned and unintelligible to (almost all the) unlearned. This guy was not just smart - he had guts, knew he was right, stuck to his guns, and never wavered.

D'Holbach did not write for fame (he wrote anonymously, for his neck's sake) or for money (he was very rich by inheritance), but for truth.

D'Holbach would have been pleased to know that Einstein was also a strict determinist like him, that Francis Crick was also a materialist like him (believing matter is all there is and rejecting "the soul", "mind-brain dualism" and similar nonsense), and that atheism is no longer a radical thing (to put it mildly), especially among the educated. Most natural scientists are now atheists. D'Holbach's utilitarianism would find wide appeal in this democratic age. If alive today, d'Holbach would be in good company among some of the greatest minds of the world.

But even in this day and age, there are scientists, of all people, who believe otherwise! (E.g., Freeman Dyson, who belives in free will, John Eccles, who believed in mind-body dualism, and John Polkinghorne, the mathematical physicist who is also a priest in the Church of England.) And so d'Holbach's book is still a pleasure to read - and much needed. But if the objective reality of nature revealed by science hasn't convinced you by now of d'Holbach's point of view, this book isn't going to convince you either. Those who come to read it are (like me) probably already converted by other means.

Incidentally, I'd add that d'Holbach showed pretty sound judgments about other matters. He speculated that the human species might have arrived by evolutionary stages, long before Charles Darwin proved this to be the case. (And it would be a few years after d'Holbach's death in 1789 that Erasmus Darwin first hinted at evolution.) Also, when discussing how small events can give rise to very big events d'Holbach made an incredibly prescient guess about Napoleon's birth. D'Holbach also showed he understood men when he warned the normally clever Hume (who was 12 years his senior) about Rousseau's character.

Baron d'Holbach was wisdom personified.

French philosopher Paul d'Holbach (1723-1789) was remarkable in that he eloquently and systematically attacked religion with an intellectual vehemence not seen before or during his time. Unlike earlier scholars such as Machiavelli or Hobbes, where their anti-religious prose was quite subtle (and it is still debated whether either man was an atheist), d'Holbach was very clear about his disdain for the church and its effect upon mankind.

The Christian church was powerful and barbaric during the Eighteenth century, and criticism was not taken lightly. Paul d'Holbach wrote under pseudonyms to protect his identity, for as he observed:

"It is thus, that for opinions which no man can demonstrate, we see the Brahmin despised; the Mohammedan hated; the Pagan held in contempt; and that they oppress and disdain each other with the most rancorous animosity: the Christian burns the Jew because he clings to the faith of his fathers; the Roman Catholic condemns the Protestant to the flames, and makes a conscience of massacring him in cold blood; this reacts in his turn; again the various sects of Christians have leagued together against the incredulous, and for a moment suspended their own bloody disputes, that they might chastise their enemies: then, having glutted their revenge, they returned with redoubled fury to wreak over again their infuriated vengeance on each other."

In some ways, d'Holbach's ardent belief that religion caused immeasurable harm to humanity overshadowed his other ideas. He was an evolutionist, and suggested that the largest of animals may have originally evolved from microscopic life-forms. He was a determinist, during an age when "God" was treated as the only ultimate cause. His observations on the behaviour of other creatures led him to imbue nature with the intent and mastery normally reserved for mystical deities; unfortunately, he was also an Empiricist, and so was unable to adopt a pantheistic perspective, and hence his arguments regarding nature were frequently contradictory or circular.

Paul d'Holbach's treatment of religion in his "System of Nature" is a classic in atheistic literature. Drawing upon his exceptional knowledge of early and ancient texts, and noteworthy understanding of the nuances of the Christian faith, he was able to demonstrate through logic and ethics that the traditional perception of God is completely unworkable. To this day, his arguments cannot be repudiated.

la ignorancia creo a Dios la fantasia le atribuyó poderes..........

This is the first and last Atheistic work. All other Atheistic treatises are mere footnotes to D' Holbach's, Good Sense and System Of Nature. While it can be very vitriolic and redundant at times, the arguments overturn every stone in the Theist/Atheist debate.

On a theological scale of 1-5, 1 being Christian Theism and 5 being Atheism, I find myself at 4, a Pantheist/Panendeist, hence my rating.