collaboration of D'Alembert, Holbach, and all the best thinkers and men of science of the time—notwithstanding the intrigues directed against him by both the clergy and the civil authorities.
Encyclopaedists.—This is tho name given to the founders of, the contributors to, and the publishers of the great French "Encyclopaedia" (1751). The most prominent among them were D'Alembert and Diderot. This work was of immense importance for the philosophical development of Europe, because not only was it an endeavour to give the whole of the knowledge of the day in Mathematics, Natural Sciences, History, Art and Literature, all treated in an impartial way; but it also was the organ of all the thinkers of that time for the advanced, irreligious, rationalist thought of France in the eighteenth century. The name of Encyclopaedists is also extended to all those who shared their ideas.
Fechner, Gustav (1801–1887), German physiologist and philosopher. Although a metaphysician and a follower of Schelling, he began to work out physical psychology on a purely experimental ground. Matter and Mind are for him of the same nature, and only represent for the human understanding two different views of the same phenomena. Their laws are the same. His "Elements of Psycho-Physics," an epoch-making work, appeared in 1860.
Fourier, François Marie Charles (1772–1837), French Socialist writer; with Robert Owen and Saint Simon, one of the three chief founders of modern Socialism. The chief idea of his theory was: A full development of human nature, free of all artificial fetters, is the absolutely necessary condition for the attainment of happiness and virtue in society, while misery and crime are the consequences of the unnatural constraint which present society imposes upon man, even for permitting him to work in order to satisfy his needs. The necessity of a reconstruction of society on the basis of intelligent association follows from these principles. Chief works: "Traité des Quatre Mouvements," 1808; "Le Nouveau Monde Industriel," 1829. An important school of Socialism, which included among its advocates Considérant, Leroux, and many others, was developed by his pupils. For information concerning them, see Kirkup's "History of Socialism."
Godwin, William (1756–1836), English political writer. His principal work was "An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness" (2 vols., London, 1793), in which he was the first to expound the ideas of Anarchist Communism. By "political" justice he understands the realisation of the principles of morality and truth in the life of the community. He shows in his work that a Government, by the mere fact of its existence—by its very nature—stands in the way of the development of moral habits; so also private ownership; and he foresees the time when each one, free from coercion and acting in accordance with his own free will, will act for the good of the community—all being led in their actions by the principles of pure