Description
Book SynopsisThe System of Nature is a 2 volume book on philosophy written by Paul-Henri Thiry in 1770 and published in French. Most importantly, the author denies the existence of God, arguing that belief in a higher being is the product of fear, lack of understanding, and anthropomorphism. It is the most comprehensive description of Atheism in the history of philosophy.
Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionNature and her lawsOf motion and its originOf matter -- of its various combinations -- of its diversified motion -- or of the course of NatureLaws of motion common to every being of Nature -- attraction and repulsion -- inert force-necessityOrder and confusion -- intelligence -- chanceMoral and physical distinctions of man -- his originThe soul and the spiritual systemThe intellectual faculties derived from the faculty of feelingThe diversity of the intellectual facultiesthey depend on physical causes, as do their moral qualities -- The natural principles of society -- morals -- politicsThe soul does not derive its ideas from itself -- it has no innate ideasOf the system of man's free-agencyAn examination of the opinion which pretends that the system of fatalism is dangerousOf the immortality of the soul -- of the doctrine of a future state -- of the fear of deathEducation, morals, and the laws suffice to restrain man -- of the desire of immortality -- of suicideOf man's true interest, or of the ideas he forms to himself of happiness -- Man cannot be happy without virtueThe errors of man -- Upon what constitutes happiness -- The true source of his evils -- Remedies that may be appliedThose ideas which are true, or founded upon Nature, are the only remedies for the evil of man -- Recapitulation -- Conclusions of the First PartIndex.
