Customer Reviews (2)

Wonderful Book (Wish it were unabridged)
That Pierre Bayle is unknowned today is simply not true. Ask most people who Habermas is and they wouldn't be able to tell you, eventhough Habermas is a famous philosopher. Among the PEOPLE WHO MATTER, Pierre Bayle is quite well known. But if you want total mediocrity to be your standard of what thinkers we should study (A university course on Dr. Phil? Is that the future?), then that's your loss not mine. The last reviewer's comments reflect the growing anti-intellectualism and cult of celebrity and popularity of our age. Just because a thinker isn't on the tip of every avergae Joe's tongue doesn't mean that that thinker isn't of extreme importance.

great philosopher
Well, he was the most widely read philosopher in France throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, so he must have said something smart.But, his fifteen minutes of fame only lasted 150 years, today's he's unknown. ... Read more

Book Description
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. ... Read more

Book Description

Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) has been described by Richard Popkin as the key intellectual figure at the outset of the eighteenth century. Examinations of libraries from the period show him to have been by far the most successful author of the century, and his Historical and Critical Dictionary is in fact the philosophy best-seller of all time. The concepts, distinctions, and arguments found in his work were so widely adopted by later authors that Bayle came to be known as the 'Arsenal of the Enlightenment'.Despite his universally acknowledged importance, however, there has been from his own time to the present much disagreement about how Bayle is to be interpreted.

The title of this work is deliberately ambiguous, reflecting the multiple levels on which its argument is conducted. One aim is to indicate how a reading of Bayle might be made possible-how the initial impenetrability of his writings and their world might be overcome. On another level, the book offers an interpretation of Bayle's writings. Finally, it is a record of the author's own thoughts upon reading Bayle-what he finds himself thinking about as he looks at Bayle and his world.

This work is a critical but sympathetic treatment of this neglected thinker. It will engage anyone interested in the history of modern philosophy, the history of ideas, literary criticism, and the history of seventeenth-century French culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Now I'm even more confused...
I bought this book because I found Bayle's works confusing and difficult to approach.This book - with its very promissing title - is just as confusing and unapproachable.It certainly was of no help to me. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

the best philosophical argument for toleration ever made
Pierre Bayle's argument for religious toleration is more comprehensive and arguably psychologically much deeper than John Locke's more well known work. Locke defines toleration in such a way that Catholics and atheists cannot and should not be tolerated, and contemporary Lockeian efforts which need to resist this implication start out with a limp they never quite lose. Bayle's case has no such limitations. Bayle also offers a far deeper appreciation of the drama of faith and scepticism than does Voltaire, author of another widely known work on toleration.
It is a great pity that Bayle's work is not more widely known or available. Bayle's arguments could add much to discussions of religious pluralism and its challenges.
A broader familiarity with this book would also balance out current scholarly interpretations of Bayle which overplay his sceptical toying with dualist arguments. Bayle's is a complex and perhaps unstable mix of scepticism and rationalism which mirrors well the demands and dilemmas of our own day. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Amazon, Remove the Cristind Polemic
I have never seen anything like this.Cristin Blue Davenport, of Palo Alto, child, you have the most abominable wish list on Amazon for an adult?You should have used the "Kids Review Form."Of the 23 items on your wish list, most are barbie dolls!Goodness, girl, someone who says "I love kids and pigs and Ancient History," wouldn't understand history if God taught it to her.My reason for responding is the total inappropriateness of your DIATRIBE again a professor.This page is for reviews, not teaching evaluations.I can see why you did not read the book - you probably cannot read.Amazon should have removed this diatribe.Hope your parents see this.

Brilliant Exploration of an Esoteric Subject
This treatise focuses on a subject that most of us would avoid as uninteresting and boring.Dr. Tinsley, however, has an unusual instinct for pulling clear ideas from a "tiny" corner of history and endowing it with substance and "light."She writes beautifully and obviously loves her subject.It is not a mystery book that one can read in 2 hours.It requires time to think along with the author.And the result?The reader learns and enlarges his thinking.

Attn Amazon!The previous review should be removed!
...as it is not actually a review and appears to be a personality assessment of the author only.Thanks for your attention.

Terribly unrealiable author
I began this year by taking an Ancient History Class, my favorite subject on the face of the earth, and Dr. Barbara Tinsley was the instructor. She admitted that Ancient History wasn't her preferred field, nevertheless she proceeded to butcher history as I watched her rantings unfold day after day. She told deliberately WRONG things to her students in class, and didn't have a clue about how to teach a course in the first place. I would reccommend that you reconsider this book because the author is unfortunately an undeniable idiot. Perhaps that's a bit harsh, but what kind of person teaches a class on a subject she doesn't know? She fills in the time with her opinions about invading Iraq and politics, which is all well and good, if it was a social science class. But it's not. It's History. I just thought I would want to know this about her before I bought her book, and so I'm making this review which doesn't actually have to do with the book itself, just the author. The choice is, of course, always up to the individual. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1820 edition by Desoer, Paris. ... Read more