[In ‘Xenophanes’, Bayle explores two notions that were subjects of controversy in classical, Christian, and heretical writings: ‘acatalepsy’ (or ‘scepticism’), and ‘evil’. The first, examined in Remark (L), is raised in the context of the postulate: ‘Xenophanes believed in the incomprehensibility of all things.’ The second concerned harm (le mal) – meaning both ‘the crimes of humankind’ and ‘the unhappiness of humankind’. In Remark (E), Bayle explores gross moral evil, including war, mass slaughter, extortion, great superstitions, and the abuse of the innocent. He asks if the belief that there are two warring empires in the universe, namely, the evil empire and God's empire, can be sustained either theologically or philosophically. In Remarks (F), (H) and (K), Bayle turns to ‘happiness’, asking if ‘the sweet things of life’ equal its ‘bitter draughts’. He infers that if philosophers were to deepen their knowledge of empirical psychology they could well improve their moral insight.]