History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Pierre Bayle argues that religious disagreements should be tolerated and that there are powerful arguments against monotheism, even as some contemporaries embrace outright atheism.

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Is Pierre Bayle’s pioneering reference work, the Historical and Critical Dictionary, a monument to skepticism or to fideism?

The “Quietists” Jeanne Guyon and François Fénelon argue that self-love can be overcome by cultivating a “pure love” for God. Their reward: to be accused of heresy.

How the “neo-classical” tragedies of Racine explore the battle between passion and reason.

Molière’s famous comedies scandalize Paris and dramatize themes from French moralism, especially the danger of hypocrisy.

La Rochefoucauld and other “moralists” offer a penetrating and witty critique of human pride, selfishness, and hypocrisy. Is this just cynicism, or does it support a positive ethic?

How the French formal garden embodied both Cartesian philosophy and the political ideology of the French monarchy.

How philosophy at the universities evolved in response to Cartesianism and the “new science.”

Arnauld’s attack on Malebranche’s theory of the “vision in God” leads to a nuanced debate over the nature of ideas.

What inspired the occasionalist theory embraced by the 17th century Cartesians? We find out from a leading specialist on the topic.

What led Malebranche to his notorious view that all bodily motions and thoughts are caused by God, with created things serving only as “occasions” for divine action?

We begin to explore Malebranche’s controversial development of Cartesian philosophy by looking at his theodicy.

Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole update the study of logic to take account of the ideas of Descartes.

Antoine Arnauld combines Cartesian philosophy with Jansenism, one of the most controversial religious movements of the 17th century.

An interview on contemporary approaches to Pascal's Wager: where decision theory meets philosophy of religion.

Should we gamble on belief in God to have a chance at infinite reward?

Blaise Pascal was a pioneering scientist and deeply spiritual religious thinker; what united these two sides of his thought?

Why did Sébastian Basso and Pierre Gassendi think ancient atomism was the key to developing a new, modern science?

Gassendi’s path from skepticism to “baptized Epicureanism.”