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13 - Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century France

from Part III - Reformation, Renaissance, Enlightenment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2021

Michael Ruse
By
Alan Charles Kors
Edited by
Stephen Bullivant
Michael Ruse
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Stephen Bullivant
Affiliation:
St Mary's University, Twickenham, London
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Summary

The late eighteenth century in France saw the publication of an unambiguously explicit, self-assured, and systematic atheism in the works of Paul Henry Thiry (baron) d’Holbach, Jacques-André Naigeon, and, posthumously, Denis Diderot. In the early eighteenth century, several clandestine manuscripts circulated (in France and elsewhere) about whose atheistic status scholars argue, but all students agree that one of these manuscripts, the posthumously discovered Testament of Jean Meslier, a country Catholic priest, was an expression of intensely and fully atheistic views (Benítez 1996; 2012).

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Information
The Cambridge History of Atheism , pp. 242 - 257
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

References

Baillet, A. 1691. Vie de Descartes. Paris.Google Scholar
Bayle, P. 1730 [1695–7]. Dictionnaire historique et critique, 4th edition, revised. Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Benítez, M. 1996. La face cachée des Lumières. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation.Google Scholar
Benítez, M. 2012. Les yeux de la raison: Le matérialisme athée de Jean Meslier. Paris: H. Champion.Google Scholar
Catalogue des livres du feu M. le Baron d’Holbach. 1789. Paris.Google Scholar
Diderot, D. 1964. Oeuvres philosophiques, ed. Vernière, P. Paris: Editions Garnier Frères.Google Scholar
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Kors, A. C. 1990. Atheism in France: 1650–1729: The Orthodox Sources of Disbelief. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kors, A. C. 2016a. Naturalism and Unbelief in France, 1650–1729. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kors, A. C. 2016b. Epicureans and Atheists in France, 1650–1729. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
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Buckley, M. J. 1987. At the Origins of Modern Atheism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. An examination of the profound consequences of the shift in early modern theology from a focus on religious experience to a focus on philosophical demonstration.Google Scholar
Berman, D. 1996. History of Atheism in Britain from Hobbes to Russell. Bristol: Thoemmes Press. An important point of contrast to the French phenomena.Google Scholar
Hunter, M. and Wooten, D. (eds.) 1992. Atheism from the Reformation to the Enlightenment. Oxford: Clarendon Press. A variety of perspectives and cultural comparisons on the subject of early modern atheism.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel, J. I. 2001. Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650–1750. Oxford: Oxford University Press. An influential and widely contested work that, with Israel’s subsequent writings, emphasizes the influence of Spinoza and his European disciples.Google Scholar
Kors, A. C. 1976. D’Holbach’s Coterie: An Enlightenment in Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An examination of Holbach’s salon, identifying the handful of atheists who attended there, including Holbach, Diderot, and Naigeon.Google Scholar
Meslier, J. 1973–84. Oeuvres complètes, ed. Desné, R. et al. Paris: Anthropos.Google Scholar
Mori, G. 1999. Bayle philosophe. Paris: Champion. A complex and provocative examination of the role of Pierre Bayle in philosophical debates relevant to early modern atheism.Google Scholar
Nadler, S. 2010. The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil in the Age of Reason. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. A rigorous examination of early modern debates over the compatibility of God and the reality of evil.Google Scholar
Rétat, P. 1971. Le Dictionnaire de Bayle et la ute philosophique au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. A significant scholarly work that emphasizes the influence of Pierre Bayle.Google Scholar
Schröder, W. 1998. Ursprünge des Atheismus. Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog. A wide-ranging examination of the roots of European atheistic thought.Google Scholar
Vernière, P. 1954. Spinoza et la pensée française avant la Révolution, 2nd edition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. The first of the works to make expansive claims for a particularly strong Spinozist influence.Google Scholar
Buckley, M. J. 1987. At the Origins of Modern Atheism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. An examination of the profound consequences of the shift in early modern theology from a focus on religious experience to a focus on philosophical demonstration.Google Scholar
Berman, D. 1996. History of Atheism in Britain from Hobbes to Russell. Bristol: Thoemmes Press. An important point of contrast to the French phenomena.Google Scholar
Hunter, M. and Wooten, D. (eds.) 1992. Atheism from the Reformation to the Enlightenment. Oxford: Clarendon Press. A variety of perspectives and cultural comparisons on the subject of early modern atheism.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel, J. I. 2001. Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650–1750. Oxford: Oxford University Press. An influential and widely contested work that, with Israel’s subsequent writings, emphasizes the influence of Spinoza and his European disciples.Google Scholar
Kors, A. C. 1976. D’Holbach’s Coterie: An Enlightenment in Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An examination of Holbach’s salon, identifying the handful of atheists who attended there, including Holbach, Diderot, and Naigeon.Google Scholar
Meslier, J. 1973–84. Oeuvres complètes, ed. Desné, R. et al. Paris: Anthropos.Google Scholar
Mori, G. 1999. Bayle philosophe. Paris: Champion. A complex and provocative examination of the role of Pierre Bayle in philosophical debates relevant to early modern atheism.Google Scholar
Nadler, S. 2010. The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil in the Age of Reason. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. A rigorous examination of early modern debates over the compatibility of God and the reality of evil.Google Scholar
Rétat, P. 1971. Le Dictionnaire de Bayle et la ute philosophique au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. A significant scholarly work that emphasizes the influence of Pierre Bayle.Google Scholar
Schröder, W. 1998. Ursprünge des Atheismus. Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog. A wide-ranging examination of the roots of European atheistic thought.Google Scholar
Vernière, P. 1954. Spinoza et la pensée française avant la Révolution, 2nd edition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. The first of the works to make expansive claims for a particularly strong Spinozist influence.Google Scholar

Suggested Further Reading

Buckley, M. J. 1987. At the Origins of Modern Atheism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. An examination of the profound consequences of the shift in early modern theology from a focus on religious experience to a focus on philosophical demonstration.Google Scholar
Berman, D. 1996. History of Atheism in Britain from Hobbes to Russell. Bristol: Thoemmes Press. An important point of contrast to the French phenomena.Google Scholar
Hunter, M. and Wooten, D. (eds.) 1992. Atheism from the Reformation to the Enlightenment. Oxford: Clarendon Press. A variety of perspectives and cultural comparisons on the subject of early modern atheism.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel, J. I. 2001. Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650–1750. Oxford: Oxford University Press. An influential and widely contested work that, with Israel’s subsequent writings, emphasizes the influence of Spinoza and his European disciples.Google Scholar
Kors, A. C. 1976. D’Holbach’s Coterie: An Enlightenment in Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An examination of Holbach’s salon, identifying the handful of atheists who attended there, including Holbach, Diderot, and Naigeon.Google Scholar
Meslier, J. 1973–84. Oeuvres complètes, ed. Desné, R. et al. Paris: Anthropos.Google Scholar
Mori, G. 1999. Bayle philosophe. Paris: Champion. A complex and provocative examination of the role of Pierre Bayle in philosophical debates relevant to early modern atheism.Google Scholar
Nadler, S. 2010. The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil in the Age of Reason. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. A rigorous examination of early modern debates over the compatibility of God and the reality of evil.Google Scholar
Rétat, P. 1971. Le Dictionnaire de Bayle et la ute philosophique au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. A significant scholarly work that emphasizes the influence of Pierre Bayle.Google Scholar
Schröder, W. 1998. Ursprünge des Atheismus. Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog. A wide-ranging examination of the roots of European atheistic thought.Google Scholar
Vernière, P. 1954. Spinoza et la pensée française avant la Révolution, 2nd edition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. The first of the works to make expansive claims for a particularly strong Spinozist influence.Google Scholar

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