Étienne Bonnot de Condillac

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (UKˌɛtiˈɛn_ˈbɒnoʊ_də_ˈkɒndiæk , etjɛn bɔno də kɔ̃dijak; 30 September 1714 - 2 August or 3 August 1780) was a French philosopher, epistemologist, and Catholic priest, who studied in such areas as psychology and the philosophy of the mind. He was born at Grenoble into a legal family, the youngest of three brothers. His two older brothers Jean and Gabriel took names associated with one of the family's properties at Mably, Loire, and were each known as "Bonnot de Mably". Étienne identified with another property at Condillac, Drôme, was known as "Bonnot de Condillac". Like his brother Gabriel, Condillac took holy orders (1733–1740) at Saint-Sulpice church in Paris. He was appointed as Abbot of Mureau. Condillac devoted his whole life, with the exception of an interval as a court-appointed tutor to the court of Parma, to speculative thought. 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, Condillac was involved with the circle of Denis Diderot, the philosopher who was co-contributor to the Encyclopédie. He developed a friendship with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which lasted in some measure to the end of his life. It likely started when Rousseau was a tutor to two of his brother Jean's sons in Lyon—Jean Bonnot de Mably was then provost of the police and known as Monsieur de Mably. Together with his brother Gabriel, who became the well-known political writer known as Abbé de Mably, Condillac introduced Rousseau to an intellectual circle. Condillac's relations with unorthodox philosophers did not injure his career. He had already published several works when the French court sent him to Parma to educate the orphan duke, then a child of seven years.