Abstract
At first glance, the materialistic atheism of the late French Enlightenment appears philosophically dogmatic and wholly incompatible with philosophical scepticism. A closer examination of the works of Denis Diderot, the baron d’Holbach, and Jacques-André Naigeon, however, reveals that at their seemingly most dogmatic moments, they reflected significantly on “the weakness of the human mind” in ways that had important sceptical consequences. More importantly, when they examined the status of their own propositions, they concluded on behalf both of the impossibility of philosophical demonstration of their own foundational assumptions and of the impossibility of changing, in the ways they would have desired, the thinking and the behavior of the human species.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Alan Charles Kors, “Atheism and Scepticism in the Late French Enlightenment,” in Marc André Bernier and Sébastien Charles (eds.), Scepticisme et modernité, Saint-Étienne, Presses de l’Université Saint-Étienne, 2005, pp. 145–52.
- 2.
Denis Diderot, Œuvres philosophiques. Paul Vernière (ed.), Paris, 1964, pp. 280–4.
- 3.
Ibid., p. 313.
- 4.
Ibid., pp. 304–6.
- 5.
Ibid., p. 59.
- 6.
Ibid., p. 192.
- 7.
Denis Diderot, Œuvres romanesques. Henri Bénac (ed.), Paris, 1962, p. 499.
- 8.
Diderot, Œuvres philosophiques, p. 364.
- 9.
Diderot, Œuvres romanesques, pp. 670–1.
- 10.
Paul-Henri Thiry d’Holbach, “Essai sur les préjugés; Système de la nature; Histoire critique de Jésus-Christ,” in Jean-Pierre Jackson (ed.), Œuvres philosophiques complètes, Paris, 1999, t. II, p. 158.
- 11.
Ibid., p. 159.
- 12.
Ibid., Système de la nature, passim. The opening sentence of Holbach’s preface to the Système is “L’homme n’est malheureux que parce qu’il méconnaît la Nature.” Ibid., p. 165.
- 13.
Ibid., pp. 168–9.
- 14.
Ibid., p. 179.
- 15.
Ibid., pp. 228–37.
- 16.
Ibid., p. 249.
- 17.
Ibid., p. 279 (and, indeed, passim).
- 18.
Ibid., pp. 300–2.
- 19.
Ibid., p. 594.
- 20.
Ibid., p. 635.
- 21.
Ibid., p. 586.
- 22.
Ibid., pp. 624–5.
- 23.
Ibid., p. 635.
- 24.
Holbach, Le Bon-Sens, ou Idées naturelles opposées aux idées surnaturelles, Londres, [Amsterdam], 1771, p. 141.
- 25.
See note 1.
- 26.
On Naigeon himself, whose life is little know, see Alan Charles Kors, D’Holbach’s Coterie: An Enlightenment in Paris, Princeton, 1976, pp. 27–9, 44–86, 199–200, 256–7, 286–7, 289–90.
- 27.
Jacques-André Naigeon, Mémoires historiques et philosophiques sur la vie et les ouvrages de D. Diderot, Paris, 1821, pp. 258–9.
- 28.
Jacques-André Naigeon, Philosophie ancienne et moderne, Paris, 1791, 3 vols., I, 1–2.
- 29.
Ibid., 2–4.
- 30.
Ibid., 3–4.
- 31.
Ibid., II, 724–738.
- 32.
Ibid.
- 33.
Ibid., 736, note 1. (See David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, L. A. Selby-Bigge and P. H. Nidditch (eds.), in Enquiries concerning Human Understanding and concerning the Principles of Morals, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 3rd ed., 1975, p. 155, note 31.)
- 34.
Ibid., 737–8.
- 35.
Ibid. 749–56.
- 36.
Ibid., 368–70; see, in particular, note 1, pp. 368–9.
- 37.
In Denis Diderot, Correspondance, Georges Roth et al. (eds.), Paris, 1955–1970, 12 vols., VI, pp. 169–72.
- 38.
Naigeon, Mémoires sur Diderot, op. cit., 307–8.
- 39.
Ibid.
Bibliography
Diderot, Denis. 1955–1970. Correspondance, 16 vols. Paris: Éditions de Minuit.
Diderot, Denis. 1962. Œuvres romanesques. Paris: Garnier.
Diderot, Denis. 1964. Œuvres philosophiques. Paris: Garnier.
Holbach, Paul-Henri Thiry d’. 1771. Le Bon-Sens, ou Idées naturelles opposées aux idées surnaturelles. Londres [Amsterdam]: Marc-Michel Rey.
Holbach, Paul-Henri Thiry d’. 1998–2001. Œuvres philosophiques complètes, 3 vols. Paris: Alive.
Hume, David. 1755. Philosophische Versuche über die Menschliche Erkenntniß. Hamburg/Leipzig: Bey G.C. Grund und A.H. Holle.
Hume, David. 1975. In An enquiry concerning human understanding, 3rd ed, ed. L.A. Selby-Bigge and P.H. Nidditch. Oxford: Clarendon.
Kors, Alan C. 1976. D’Holbach’s coterie: An enlightenment in Paris. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kors, Alan C. 2005. In Scepticisme et modernité, ed. M.A. Bernier and S. Charles, 145–152. Saint-Étienne: Presses de l’Université Saint-Étienne.
Naigeon, Jacques-André. 1791. Philosophie ancienne et moderne, vol. 3. Paris: Panckoucke.
Naigeon, Jacques-André. 1821. Mémoires historiques et philosophiques sur a vie et les ouvrages de D. Diderot. Paris: J. L. J. Brière.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kors, A.C. (2013). An Uneasy Relationship: Atheism and Scepticism in the Late French Enlightenment. In: Charles, S., J. Smith, P. (eds) Scepticism in the Eighteenth Century: Enlightenment, Lumières, Aufklärung. International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, vol 210. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4810-1_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4810-1_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4809-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4810-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)