Naturalism and unbelief in France, 1650-1729

Atheism was the most fundamental challenge to early-modern French certainties. Leading educators, theologians and philosophers labelled such atheism as manifestly absurd, confident that neither the fact nor behaviour of nature was explicable without reference to God. The alternative was a categorica...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:Naturalism & Unbelief in France, 16501729
Naturalism & Unbelief in France, 1650–1729
Main Author: Kors, Alan Charles 1943- (Author)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
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WorldCat: WorldCat
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2016.
In:Year: 2016
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B France / Agnosticism / Naturalism / History 1650-1729
Further subjects:B France Religion 17th century
B Atheism
B France Religion, 17th century
B Atheism ; France ; History ; 17th century
B Naturalism History 18th century
B France Religion, 18th century
B Naturalism ; History ; 18th century
B Naturalism History 17th century
B Atheism ; France ; History ; 18th century
B Atheism (France) History 17th century
B Atheism France History, 18th century
B Atheism (France) History 18th century
B Naturalism ; History ; 17th century
B Atheism France History, 17th century
B France ; Religion ; 17th century
B History 1600-1700
B History 1700-1800
B Naturalism History, 18th century
B Naturalism
B France ; Religion ; 18th century
B France
B France Religion 18th century
B Naturalism History, 17th century
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Summary:Atheism was the most fundamental challenge to early-modern French certainties. Leading educators, theologians and philosophers labelled such atheism as manifestly absurd, confident that neither the fact nor behaviour of nature was explicable without reference to God. The alternative was a categorical naturalism. This book demonstrates that the Christian learned world had always contained the naturalistic 'atheist' as an interlocutor and a polemical foil, and its early-modern engagement and use of the hypothetical atheist were major parts of its intellectual life. In the considerations and polemics of an increasingly fractious orthodox culture, the early-modern French learned world gave real voice and eventually life to that atheistic presence. Without understanding the actual context and convergence of the inheritance, scholarship, fierce disputes, and polemical modes of orthodox culture, the early-modern generation and dissemination of absolute naturalism are inexplicable. This book brings to life that Christian learned culture, its dilemmas, and its unintended consequences.
Item Description:Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 06 Jun 2016)
ISBN:131622712X
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781316227121