How did Voltaire help introduce John Locke’s empiricism to France?

Voltaire played a pivotal role in introducing John Locke’s empiricism to France, primarily through his influential work, the Lettres philosophiques (1734).1

Following his exile in England, Voltaire sought to present the English model as a superior alternative to the intellectual climate in France. In his Lettres philosophiques, he explicitly contrasted Locke’s empirical psychology—which posits that knowledge is derived from experience and observation—with the speculative, a priori methods of René Descartes. Voltaire admired Locke’s "historical plain method," praising him for offering a history of the soul rather than a "romance of the soul".12

By presenting Locke as an advocate for rational faith and sensationalist psychology, Voltaire helped ensure the philosopher's posthumous success in France. This introduction of Lockean thought became a cornerstone of the Enlightenment, shifting the intellectual focus toward progress, scientific observation, and the belief that moral improvement and human understanding are shaped by environment and experience.21