French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. McKenna, Études sur Pierre Bayle
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Antony McKenna, Études sur Pierre Bayle, Paris: Honoré Champion, coll. «Vie des Huguenots», 2015.
EAN13: 9782745328434
384 p.
60.00 EUR
Publisher's Overview
Recent research has radically altered the status of Pierre Bayle in the history of classical philosophical and religious thought. He has long been portrayed as an intelligent, sarcastic, skeptical observer... standing somewhat apart from the history of major philosophical systems. Yet, in recent years, the true scope of Bayle's rationalism has been rediscovered. Our perception of his place in the debates of his time has changed entirely. From a mere observer, modern historiography has recast him as a central figure in the philosophical, religious, and political controversies of his era: he dissects the concept of political sovereignty; he takes a stand both for and against Malebranche; he detects, at the heart of Malebranche's Christian philosophy, an unspoken Epicureanism; he rejects all the claims of rationalist theologians, compelling us to choose between religious mystery and philosophical certainty; he surpasses Locke in formulating the rights of the erring conscience; and he opposes Leibniz by demonstrating that our conception of an infinitely perfect Creator God is irreconcilable with our daily experience of misery and suffering. Without a doubt, he ranks among the foremost philosophers of his age, and his writings deeply informed the clandestine philosophers who laid the foundations of the Radical Enlightenment. This volume of essays contributes to this fresh reinterpretation of the significance and scope of Bayle's rationalism.
About the Author
Antony McKenna, Professor Emeritus at Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne, is a researcher at the Institute for the History of Classical Thought (CNRS UMR 5037). He is the author of a doctoral thesis entitled De Pascal à Voltaire: Le rôle des Pensées de Pascal dans l’histoire des idées entre 1670 et 1734 (Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 1990); co-author of the Dictionnaire de Port-Royal (Paris, H. Champion, 2004); author of Molière, dramaturge libertin (Paris, H. Champion, 2004); and editor of the critical edition of Pierre Bayle’s correspondence (Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 1999–, 12 vols. published). He has also edited the journal La Lettre clandestine: Bulletin d’information sur la littérature philosophique clandestine de l’Âge classique.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Brief Chronology of the Life and Publications of Pierre Bayle
The Correspondence of Pierre Bayle
Religion Between the Lines in the Correspondence of Pierre Bayle
From "Poor Devil" to Man of Letters: The Apprenticeship of the Young Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle: A Minor Writer?
The Battle Between Bayle and Jurieu: The Dynamics of the Communicative Apparatus
Appendix I: Bayle Confronting Orangist Propaganda
Appendix II: Chronological Bibliography of the Dispute Between Bayle and Jurieu
A Certain Idea of the Republic of Letters: The Historiography of Pierre Bayle
1) The Networks of the Republic of Letters
2) The Historiography of Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle Against the "False Trail"
Pierre Bayle: Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Thought
Pierre Bayle: Moralism and Anthropology
Pierre Bayle Confronting Superstition and Socinianism
Bayle’s Irony and Its Status in Philosophical Writing
Michel Le Vassor and the Reception of Bayle’s Dictionary in England: A Double Misunderstanding
The Reality of Pleasures, the Fullness of Sentiment: Prévost as a Reader of Malebranche, Bayle, and Pascal
1. Prévost as a Reader of Malebranche and Bayle: Pleasures and Happiness
2. Prévost as a Reader of Pascal: The Metaphysics of Sentiment
Bayle’s Critics in the 18th Century: The Example of Jean-Pierre de Crousaz
Pierre Bayle and Clandestine Philosophical Literature
Appendix 1: On the Conduct a Person of Honor Should Maintain Throughout Life
Appendix 2: La Moïsade
Sources of the Articles
Index of Proper Names
Table of Contents
This collection of essays situates Pierre Bayle within the intellectual transition of the late seventeenth century, a period marked by intense religious and philosophical debates. As a prominent Huguenot exile, Bayle operated within the Republic of Letters, a transnational network of scholars who exchanged ideas despite political and religious borders. McKenna explores how Bayle’s critical method and skepticism challenged contemporary orthodoxies, particularly through his debates with theologians like Pierre Jurieu. By examining these exchanges, the volume highlights how Bayle’s defense of toleration and the rights of the erring conscience laid the groundwork for the Radical Enlightenment.
The book addresses crucial questions about the nature of early modern rationalism, the limits of religious tolerance, and the role of irony in philosophical writing. It clarifies Bayle’s complex intellectual relationships with major contemporaries such as Nicolas Malebranche, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and John Locke. Scholars and students of French literature, the history of ideas, and Huguenot history will find this work invaluable. By analyzing both Bayle’s published writings and his extensive correspondence, McKenna provides a nuanced portrait of a thinker whose skepticism did not detach him from his era, but rather placed him at its very center.