Étienne Bonnot de Condillac

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (30 September 1715 - 3 August 1780) was a French philosopher. He was born at Grenoble of a legal family, and, like his elder brother, the well-known political writer, abbé de Mably, took holy orders (1733-1740) at Saint-Sulpice in Paris and became abbé de Mureau. In both cases the profession was hardly more than nominal, and Condillac's whole life, with the exception of an interval as tutor at the court of Parma, was d... more

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (30 September 1715 - 3 August 1780) was a French philosopher. He was born at Grenoble of a legal family, and, like his elder brother, the well-known political writer, abbé de Mably, took holy orders (1733-1740) at Saint-Sulpice in Paris and became abbé de Mureau. In both cases the profession was hardly more than nominal, and Condillac's whole life, with the exception of an interval as tutor at the court of Parma, was devoted to speculation. His works are Essai sur l'origine des connaissances humaines (1746), Traité des systèmes (1749), Traité des sensations (1754), Traité des animaux (1755), a comprehensive Cours d'études (1767-1773) in 13 vols., written for the young Duke Ferdinand of Parma, a grandson of Louis XV, Le Commerce et le gouvernement, considérés relativement l'un a l'autre (1776), and two posthumous works, Logique (1781) and the unfinished Langue des calculs (1798). In Paris he came much into contact with the circle of Diderot. A friendship... less