Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a CometState University of New York Press, 18. maí 2000 - 271 síður "I tremble when I recall the terrible appearance [the comet] had on Saturday evening in the clear sky, when it was observed by everybody with inexpressible astonishment. It seemed as though the heavens were burning, or as if the very air was on fire...[F]rom this little star stretched out such a wonderfully long tail that even an intellectual man was overcome with trembling; one's hair stood on end as this uncommon, terrible, and indescribable tail came into view...O wonderful almighty God! The heavens show thy might and the earth thy handiwork!" — Eyewitness account of a comet which appeared over Europe on December 24, 1680 The appearance of this comet caused so many panicked inquiries to be made of Pierre Bayle, one of the Enlightenment's greatest thinkers, that he decided to formally respond to them, hence the present work, which first appeared in 1682. The book's principle task was to undermine the influence of "superstition" in political life, and it was here that Bayle made the notorious suggestion, unique in the history of political thought until then, that a decent society of atheists is possible in principle. There is no other English translation of this book in print—the only other version was printed in 1708. This translation is based on a recently revised critical edition of the complete French text and includes a substantial interpretive essay that both elucidates the arguments of the work and indicates the importance of Bayle in the history of the modern Enlightenment. |
Efni
Introduction | xxiii |
I | xxvii |
24 | xlv |
Note to the Reader 1682 | 3 |
Publishers Note 1683 | 11 |
First Letter January 1 1681 | 17 |
Third Letter April 3 1681 | 24 |
Fifth Letter May 25 1681 63 | 25 |
82 That Panegyrists Have Contributed to Fomenting | 101 |
90 Why the Holy Fathers Did Not Condemn Those | 115 |
101 Convincing Proof of the Error Relating to Presages | 131 |
105 On the Prodigious Inclination of the Ancient Pagans | 137 |
Eighth Letter July 29 1681 | 165 |
138 An Example Proving That Opinions Are Not the Rule | 171 |
Drawn from the Devotion Several Scoundrels | 184 |
159 Confirmation of the Same Thing | 198 |
V | 38 |
4556 | 63 |
5778 | 75 |
Appeared in the edition of 1699 | 81 |
70 Application of the Preceding Remarks to the Reason | 88 |
79101 | 97 |
203 | 250 |
IV | 272 |
V | 286 |
Biblical Passages Cited | 317 |
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