Historical and Critical Dictionary: Selections (Hackett Classics)

Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), French philosophe and reviewer. After moving to Rotterdam, he devoted himself to writing this biographical and historical "dictionary", a seminal work appearing in parts in Europe. Bayle fought for religious tolerance in the face of persecution. He also showed, repeatedly, that atheist objections to theological claims could not be answered.

His discussion of Spinoza was controversial, and as translated here, does not appear to do much. But in its day, it inspired incendiary reaction by both Protestant and Catholic factions. He discusses the injustice of classes, the hypocrisy of the pious, the physical annihilation of the Manicheans without disposing of their arguments, and the fact that those who can show more successfully oppose the arguments of the Manicheans find themselves to be Unitarians.(!) [418-19]

Includes the biography of "Ariosta", the concubine whose faithfulness and political skills so nicely coupled with great beauty. Bayle notes that from her eleven children comes a titled House of Este, which still exists in the branch of Modena and of Rhegio. That Ariosta gave more honor to her family than she took from it. [21] He discusses the "singular efficacy" of marriage, which changes the nature of three kinds of time:

"The past is no less free from its influences than is the present or the future." He acknowledges the force, the irresistable authority, of custom.

Bayle keenly scrutinizes how women are treated, exposing its badly baud. [22, 23]

With detailed Index. show less