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Scepticism in the Eighteenth Century: Enlightenment, Lumières, Aufklärung

  • Book
  • © 2013

Overview

Editors:
  1. Sébastien Charles

    1. Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada

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  2. Plínio J. Smith

    1. , Departamento de Filosofia, Universidade Federal de são Paulo, Guarulhos, Brazil

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • First comprehensive book on the topic of the presence of scepticism in the Enlightenment by best experts in the field
  • Provides both a new, alternative conception of the Enlightenment and a detailed account of scepticism in all its forms in the Eighteenth Century
  • Wide coverage, from the very beginning of Enlightenment till its impact on the Nineteenth Century philosophy, as well as British, French, and German philosophy
  • Contains information on less known philosophers who are very important to the complete and proper picture of the topic ?

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvii
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  2. Introduction: What Is Enlightenment Scepticism? A Critical Rereading of Richard Popkin

    • Sébastien Charles
    Pages 1-15

  5. Lumières and Scepticism: From Boyer d’Argens to Brissot de Warville

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171
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Keywords

About this book

The Age of Enlightenment has often been portrayed as a dogmatic period on account of the veritable worship of reason and progress that characterized Eighteenth Century thinkers. Even today the philosophes are considered to have been completely dominated in their thinking by an optimism that leads to dogmatism and ultimately rationalism. However, on closer inspection, such a conception seems untenable, not only after careful study of the impact of scepticism on numerous intellectual domains in the period, but also as a result of a better understanding of the character of the Enlightenment. As Giorgio Tonelli has rightly observed: “the Enlightenment was indeed the Age of Reason but one of the main tasks assigned to reason in that age was to set its own boundaries.” Thus, given the growing number of works devoted to the scepticism of Enlightenment thinkers, historians of philosophy have become increasingly aware of the role played by scepticism in the Eighteenth Century, even in those places once thought to be most given to dogmatism, especially Germany. Nevertheless, the deficiencies of current studies of Enlightenment scepticism are undeniable. In taking up this question in particular, the present volume, which is entirely devoted to the scepticism of the Enlightenment in both its historical and geographical dimensions, seeks to provide readers with a revaluation of the alleged decline of scepticism. At the same time it attempts to resituate the Pyrrhonian heritage within its larger context and to recapture the fundamental issues at stake. The aim is to construct an alternative conception of Enlightenment philosophy, by means of philosophical modernity itself, whose initial stages can be found herein. ​

Reviews

“The greatest virtue of the chapters in this volume is the level of detail provided by the authors … . There is considerable value in reading this book cover to cover … . the book has already been an invaluable reference tool for my current research and it has given me a number of ideas for future research.” (Michael W. Hickson, International Journal for the Study of Skepticism, Vol. 06 (04), 2016)


“This volume is another instance of the enduring influence of Richard Popkin’s pioneering work on the history of modern skepticism. … the volume as a whole is a welcome addition to the literature on modern skepticism. … The present collection is clear proof that scholarship on the history and philosophical significance of modern skepticism is as vigorous as ever.” (Diego E. Machuca, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Vol. 53 (3), July, 2015)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada

    Sébastien Charles

  • , Departamento de Filosofia, Universidade Federal de são Paulo, Guarulhos, Brazil

    Plínio J. Smith

About the editors

Sébastien Charles is full Professor of History of Philosophy at the Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), where he is the director of the Laboratoire de recherche sur la pensée moderne. He has published numerous books and articles on early modern French philosophers, from Descartes to Fouchet and Huet, on Berkeley and the French Enlightenment, and on the history of scepticism. Plínio Junqueira Smith is professor at Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil. He was educadet at Universidade de São Paulo, was head of the Graduate Programm at the Universidade São Judas Tadeu, and a visiting scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford. He has published works on Hume, modern philosophy from Montaigne to Kant, contemporary scepticism and the history of scepticism.

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