Helvétius

Claude Adrien Helvétius was a French Enlightenment philosopher who reduced all human motivation to self-interest and sensation, a view that directly shaped Bentham's utilitarian calculus.

In De l'Esprit, Helvétius argued that pleasure and pain are the sole springs of human action and that good legislation should align private interest with public utility — anticipating the core architecture of Benthamite utilitarianism.