menu

Thinkers

Baron d'Holbach

Enlightenment · Europe · 1723 to 1789

German-born writer in Paris who held that nature is matter in motion, and wrote against organised religion.

What it is

Baron d'Holbach (1723 to 1789) was a German-born writer and philosopher who lived in Paris and hosted many of the noted philosophers of his day. He argued that nature is made of matter and obeys fixed causes, and he wrote against organised religion.

He was born at Edesheim. Wealth he inherited, in part from an uncle, let him throw the dinner parties for which he became known. He also translated German writing on chemistry into French and wrote many articles for the great reference work edited by Denis Diderot. His own philosophical books came out anonymously or under other names.

The main ideas

  • Everything has a cause. He held a deterministic view of nature. Every event, including every human choice, follows from earlier causes.
  • Matter and nothing else. His view was materialist: what exists is matter in motion, and humans are no exception.
  • Against religion. He argued against organised religion and for atheism. The System of Nature (1770) sets out this case at length.
  • Ethics and politics from happiness. His ethics and politics are utilitarian. What is good is what serves human happiness, and in the social system of 1773 duty becomes well-understood self-interest.

What it looks like in practice

Imagine someone who blames a bad run of luck on some unseen will, and then wonders what to do. Holbach would ask them to look for the real causes: the weather, a decision, a habit, a market. He would say that knowing the causes is the first step to acting well, and that guessing at a hidden will gets in the way. This is an illustration of his way of thinking, not a passage from his writing.

Books and moments

  • Contributions to Diderot's reference work. He supplied articles, mostly on chemistry and related science, translated from German.
  • Christianity Unveiled (1761) is one of his books against Christianity. It was published under the name of a deceased friend.
  • The System of Nature (1770) is one of his best-known books. It argues for a materialist, deterministic and atheist picture of the world.
  • The Social System (1773) sets out his morality and politics on the basis of happiness.
  • The dinners. His table in Paris drew many noted philosophers of the time.

Questions and criticism

  • How did people respond? His books drew long and heated replies, and Voltaire felt the need to answer them.

Close neighbours

Denis Diderot edited the reference work that Holbach wrote for, and the page on Diderot shows the circle around him. The page on Voltaire shows the writer who answered his books.

Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 29 October 2026. The sources are listed below.

Who they connect to

Influenced by

  • Denis Diderot · The two were close friends and shared a materialist view. (scholars disagree about this link)

Other Enlightenment thinkers

Sources we used

See where you stand Find them on the map

Something wrong or missing on this page? Tell us.