The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d’
(pôl äNr´ tr´ bärôN´ dôlbäk´) (KEY) , Ger. Paul Heinrich Dietrich, Baron von Holbach (poul´ hn´rkh dtrkh bärn´ fn hôl´bäkh) (KEY) , 1723–89, French philosopher, one of the Encyclopedists. Although a native of the Palatinate, he lived in Paris from childhood. He became a member of a group of notable thinkers and literary men including Diderot, Helvétius, Condorcet, and Rousseau. A supporter of naturalistic and materialistic views, he was a vigorous opponent of Christianity and all positive forms of religion. His best-known work is Système de la nature (1770), first published under the name of Mirabaud.
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n´r
kh d
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n hôl´bäkh) (KEY) , 1723–89, French philosopher, one of the Encyclopedists. Although a native of the Palatinate, he lived in Paris from childhood. He became a member of a group of notable thinkers and literary men including Diderot, Helvétius, Condorcet, and Rousseau. A supporter of naturalistic and materialistic views, he was a vigorous opponent of Christianity and all positive forms of religion. His best-known work is Système de la nature (1770), first published under the name of Mirabaud.
