Libertinism, independent in spirit, anarchistic in morals, hostile to tradition, and scornful of revealed religion, was a necessary prelude to reforms in seventeenth and eighteenth century France: it helped to break down the ideological sanctions of monarchy, feudalism, and Catholicism, and to clear the way for the philosophes and the Revolution. Although Gabriel de Foigny (1630-92) ranks primarily as such a libertine, he was more than a mere iconoclast. Lachévre sees only the destructive element in his life and writings: he regards him as a lover of license and scandal, “un vulgaire paillard, un deséquilibre complet”; but other writers acknowledge the presence of a more positive side to his work. Lichtenberger and Girsberger notice Foigny's utopia, La Terre Australe Connue (“Vannes,” i.e., Geneva, 1676) as a precursor of socialism and communism. Lanson sees in it an early evidence of the philosophic spirit and stresses Foigny's importance as a popularizer of rationalism. Atkinson shows the place of the utopia “between the exaggerated account of voyages actually made and the more perfect form of philosophical-social-exotic novel” which followed it. Wijngaarden relates it to the economic and social background in France, judges it as a reaction against the French governmental system, and finds its chief value in its criticism of institutions and mores. Hazard follows these critics in relating La Terre Australe Connue to the utopias of Veiras, Tyssot de Patot, and Cyrano de Bergerac. He goes on to show the place of such fanciful novels of adventure, social satire, and reform in the whole critical era which undermined the French seventeenth century and brought the Age of Enlightenment. The purpose of the present article is to supplement and develop some of the ideas of these scholars by showing more particularly how Foigny's utopia was conditioned by its author's personality and experience, by throwing new light on the symbolism which he employs, and by interpreting the adventures of the hero, Sadeur, in terms of these symbols.