Fatalism and chance in d’Holbach’s Système de la Nature

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study Paul Henri Thiri, Baron d’Holbach’s fatalisme in his Système de la nature. D’Holbach seems to inscribe himself in the tradition of Epicurean atomism, affirming that nothing exists beyond Nature. However, we seek to show that the Baron looks to distinguish himself from Epicurus and Lucretius, demonstrating that the notion of hasard, criticized and rejected by d’Holbach, is related to the Epicurean-Lucretian concept of the swerve. Thus, we investigate how the idea of the swerve is relevant not only with respect to physical and cosmological matters but also, and primarily, to ethical and/or moral ones. Finally, we examine d’Holbach’s responses to the moral questions and concerns that would prevent Epicurus and Lucretius from having a favourable outlook on a philosophy of necessity.