French materialism is the name given to a handful of French 18th-century philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment, many of them clustered around the salonofBaron d'Holbach. Although there are important differences between them, all of them were materialists who believed that the world was made up of a single substance, matter, the motions and properties of which could be used to explain all phenomena.
Prominent French materialists of the 18th century include: