Positive Atheism: Bayle, Meslier, d'Holbach, Diderot

Charles Devellennes explores the religious, social, and political thought of the first four thinkers of the French Enlightenment, arguing for atheism as a positive philosophy that evolved significantly over the century, leading to the rise of republicanism as a political philosophy and the establishment of an ethics without God.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2021
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Charles Devellennes examines the religious, social, and political ideas of the first four thinkers of the French Enlightenment: Pierre Bayle, Jean Meslier, Paul-Henri Thiry d'Holbach, and Denis Diderot to assertively advocate for atheism as a positive philosophy. He demonstrates how atheism underwent significant development throughout the century encompassing the writings of these four authors, transitioning from the possibility of a virtuous atheist in the late 17th century to a deeply rooted materialist philosophy with radical social and political implications by the eve of the French Revolution. The transformation of atheism from a purely negative phenomenon to one that became self-aware had profound implications for the establishment of an ethics without God and the emergence of republicanism as a political ideology.

Weight: 414g
Dimension: 144 x 222 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474478434