Clandestine Philosophy by Gianni Paganini

Major figures of the Enlightenment were, of course, well-acquainted with skepticism, e.g., Berkeley, Voltaire, Hume, Crousaz, Condillac, Reid, and Kant. Thus there is, thanks to the philosophical dimension of the clandestine literature in the eighteenth century, a transition from Christian rationalism to an anti-Christian rationalism. The lesson which this conference celebrates is that skepticism did not cease being a major cultural force. After Bayle, and the application of his special forms of skepticism to theological topics-forms which were often employed, contrary to Bayle's probable intentions, in defense of atheism-skepticism went 'underground.' A large variety of literature was circulated in manuscript form, the clandestine literature of the period. Schmitt, Giorgio Tonelli, and Ezequiel de Olaso have had in documenting the amazing impact of skepticism in the Renaissance and in the years up to the Enlightenment, this volume demonstrates that skepticism, that many-faceted force, continued throughout the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Because of space limitations, I shall focus on several of the general themes which run through the book rather than on individual contributions.ĭespite the phenomenal success Richard Popkin and collaborators like the late Charles B. There is remarkably little overlap among the papers and Paganini has clearly insisted on very high standards. Maia Neto, Adam Sutcliffe, Justin Champion, Antony McKenna, Lorenzo Bianchi, Christine Berkvens-Stevelinck, Pierre Lurbe, Stephen David Snobelen, Nigel Aston, and Stuart Brown. The contributors are: Paganini, Benítez, Dybikowski, Alan Charles Kors, Winfried Schröder, José R. This book consists of papers from two Tables rondes held in Dublin in 1999 on the occasion of the Tenth International Congress on the Enlightenment. Scepticisme, Clandestinité et Libre Pensée. Gianni Paganini, Miguel Benítez, and James Dybikowski, editors. Journal of the History of Philosophy 41.4 (2003) 561-562 In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Clandestine Philosophy by Gianni Paganini