A
libertine is one devoid of most moral or
sexual restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour sanctified by the larger society. Libertinism is described as extreme form of hedonism. Libertines put value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the senses. As a philosophy, libertinism gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, particularly in
France and
Great Britain. Notable among these were
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, and the
Marquis de Sade.