Academic Scepticism in the Development of Early Modern Philosophy (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des id?es (221))

This book explores how far some leading philosophers, from Montaigne to Hume, used Academic Scepticism to build their own brand of scepticism or took it as its main sceptical target. The book offers a detailed view of the main modern key figures, including Sanches, Charron, La Mothe Le Vayer, Bacon, Gassendi, Descartes, Malebranche, Pascal, Foucher, Huet, and Bayle. In addition, it provides a comprehensive assessment of the role of Academic Scepticism in Early Modern philosophy and a complete survey of the period. As a whole, the book offers a basis for a new, balanced assessment of the role played by scepticism in both its forms. Since Richard Popkin's works, there has been considerable interest in the role played by Pyrrhonian Scepticism in Early Modern Philosophy. Comparatively, Academic Scepticism was much neglected by scholars, despite some scattered important contributions. Furthermore, a general assessment of the presence of Academic Scepticism in Early Modern Philosophy is lacking. This book fills the void.

Plínio Junqueira Smith is professor of History of Modern Philosophy and Theory of Knowledge at Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Brazil). He has published many books on the history of scepticism, as well as many papers on scepticism, history of modern philosophy, and analytical theory of knowledge (both in international journals and collective works, including Scepticism in the Eighteenth Century. Enlightenment, Lumières, Aufklarüng, Dordrecht, Springer, 2013 (with Sébastien Charles). He translated Malebranches’s De la recherche de la vérité into Portuguese. Sébastien Charles is the Dean of Research and Creativity at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Canada). His research deals with the history of early modern philosophy, with particular emphases on Berkeley and modern scepticism. His recent publications include: Pour et contre le scepticisme. Théories et pratiques de l’antiquité aux Lumières, Paris, Honoré Champion, 2014 (with Gianni Paganini); Hume et la religion, Hildesheim, Georg Olms Verlag, 2013; Scepticism in the Eighteenth Century. Enlightenment, Lumières, Aufklarüng, Dordrecht, Springer, 2013 (with Plinio Junqueira Smith); Descartes et ses critiques, Québec, Presses de l’Université Laval, 2011 (with Syliane Malinowski-Charles).