
The Skeptical Enlightenment
Doubt and Certainty in the Age of Reason
Voltaire Foundation (Publisher)
Published on 11. March 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
248 pages
978-1-78694-194-7 (ISBN)
Description
Although
many historical narratives often describe the eighteenth century as an unalloyed
'Age of Reason', Enlightenment thinkers continued to grapple with the
challenges posed by the revival and spread of philosophical skepticism. The
imperative to overcome doubt and uncertainty informed some of the most
innovative characteristics of eighteenth-century intellectual culture,
including not only debates about epistemology and metaphysics but also matters
of jurisprudence, theology, history, moral philosophy, and politics. Thinkers
of this period debated about, established, and productively worked for progress
within the parameters of the increasingly circumscribed boundaries of human
reason. No longer considered innate and consistently perfect, reason instead
became conceived as a faculty that was inherently fallible, limited by personal
experiences, and in need of improvement throughout the course of any
individual's life.
In its depiction
of a complicated, variegated, and diverse Enlightenment culture, this volume examines the process by which
philosophical skepticism was challenged and gradually tamed to bring about an
anxious confidence in the powers of human understanding. The various
contributions collectively demonstrate that philosophical skepticism, and
not simply unshakable confidence in the powers of reason or the optimistic
assumption about inevitable human improvement, was, in fact, the crucible of
the Enlightenment process itself.
many historical narratives often describe the eighteenth century as an unalloyed
'Age of Reason', Enlightenment thinkers continued to grapple with the
challenges posed by the revival and spread of philosophical skepticism. The
imperative to overcome doubt and uncertainty informed some of the most
innovative characteristics of eighteenth-century intellectual culture,
including not only debates about epistemology and metaphysics but also matters
of jurisprudence, theology, history, moral philosophy, and politics. Thinkers
of this period debated about, established, and productively worked for progress
within the parameters of the increasingly circumscribed boundaries of human
reason. No longer considered innate and consistently perfect, reason instead
became conceived as a faculty that was inherently fallible, limited by personal
experiences, and in need of improvement throughout the course of any
individual's life.
In its depiction
of a complicated, variegated, and diverse Enlightenment culture, this volume examines the process by which
philosophical skepticism was challenged and gradually tamed to bring about an
anxious confidence in the powers of human understanding. The various
contributions collectively demonstrate that philosophical skepticism, and
not simply unshakable confidence in the powers of reason or the optimistic
assumption about inevitable human improvement, was, in fact, the crucible of
the Enlightenment process itself.
Reviews / Votes
'All in all, this is a volume which should be read by every scholar of the eighteenth century, of thehistory of ideas, and of the history of religion.'
'The editors are to be congratulated for bringing to fruition this volume of
essays, and for making a clear and convincing argument for the importance of skepticism in the
Enlightenment.'
Dorinda Outram, H-France Review * H-France Review * 'The new wave of the scholarship on skepticism that emerges from this [book] is really impressive and will mark a cornerstone for the study of eighteenth-century philosophy.'
Gianni Paganini, Erudition and the Republic of Letters
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Liverpool
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Liverpool University Press
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78694-194-7 (9781786941947)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Jeffrey D. Burson is Associate Professor of French History and the Enlightenment at Georgia Southern University. He is the author of 'The Rise and Fall of Theological Enlightenment: Jean-Martin de Prades and Ideological Polarization in Eighteenth-Century France' (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010), and 'The Culture of Enlightening and the Entangled Life of Abbe Claude Yvon' (University of Notre Dame Press, 2019), in addition to numerous articles and chapters in edited collections of essays. He is co-editor, with Ulrich L. Lehner, of 'Enlightenment and Catholicism in Europe: A Transnational History' (University of Notre Dame Press, 2014) and, with Jonathan Wright, of 'The Jesuit Suppression in Global Context: Causes, Events, and Consequences' (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Anton M. Matytsin is Assistant Professor of European History at Kenyon College. He is the author of 'The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016) and co-editor, with Dan Edelstein, of 'Let There Be Enlightenment: The Religious and Mystical Sources of Rationality' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018).
Content
Anton M. Matytsin and Jeffrey D. Burson, Introduction: from an "age Of skepticism" to an "age Of reason"
Jeffrey D. Burson, Healing the skeptical crisis and rectifying Cartesianisms: the notion of the Jesuit synthesis revisited
Elena Rapetti, "A man who sticks only to his own sentiments": Pierre-Daniel Huet's Traite philosophique de la foiblesse de l'esprit humain
Martin Mulsow and John Christian Laursen, Georg Michael Heber on legal and (possibly) religious skepticism in early Enlightenment Germany
Sebastien Charles, George Berkeley, or the skeptic in spite of himself
Rodrigo Brandao, Voltaire and modern skeptical doubt
John P. Wright, Skepticism and incomprehensibility in Bayle and Hume
Anton M. Matytsin, Taming thought with practice: philosophical skepticism in the Encyclopedie
Alan Charles Kors, Political skepticism in Holbach's circle
Summaries
Biographies of contributors
Bibliography
Index
Jeffrey D. Burson, Healing the skeptical crisis and rectifying Cartesianisms: the notion of the Jesuit synthesis revisited
Elena Rapetti, "A man who sticks only to his own sentiments": Pierre-Daniel Huet's Traite philosophique de la foiblesse de l'esprit humain
Martin Mulsow and John Christian Laursen, Georg Michael Heber on legal and (possibly) religious skepticism in early Enlightenment Germany
Sebastien Charles, George Berkeley, or the skeptic in spite of himself
Rodrigo Brandao, Voltaire and modern skeptical doubt
John P. Wright, Skepticism and incomprehensibility in Bayle and Hume
Anton M. Matytsin, Taming thought with practice: philosophical skepticism in the Encyclopedie
Alan Charles Kors, Political skepticism in Holbach's circle
Summaries
Biographies of contributors
Bibliography
Index