Pierre Bayle
born Nov. 18, 1647, Carla-le-Comte,
Fr.
died Dec. 28, 1706, Rotterdam, Neth.
philosopher whose Dictionnaire
historique et critique (1697;
“Historical and Critical Dictionary”)
was roundly condemned by the French
Reformed Church of Rotterdam and by the
French Roman Catholic church because of
its numerous annotations deliberately
designed to destroy orthodox Christian
beliefs.
Bayle was the son of a Calvinist
minister and briefly embraced Roman
Catholicism in 1669. He acted as tutor,
then taught philosophy (1675–81) at the
Protestant Academy of Sedan. After
moving to Rotterdam in 1681 to teach
philosophy and history, he published
(1682) his anonymous reflections on the
comet of 1680, deriding the superstition
that comets presage catastrophe. He also
questioned many Christian traditions,
thus arousing the ire of a Calvinist
colleague, Pierre Jurieu. Bayle’s plea
for religious toleration (even for
atheists) eventually convinced Jurieu
that Bayle was an atheist in disguise.
The rift between the two was complete
when Bayle advocated a conciliatory
attitude toward the anti-Calvinist
government of Louis XIV; in 1693 Bayle
was deprived of his Rotterdam
professorship.
Thereafter, Bayle devoted himself to
his famous Dictionnaire, ostensibly a
supplement to Louis Moreri’s dictionary
but in fact a work of considerable
originality. In this encyclopaedic work
the articles themselves—on religion,
philosophy, and history—are little more
than summary expositions. The bulk of
the Dictionnaire consists of quotations,
anecdotes, commentaries, and erudite
annotations that cleverly undo whatever
orthodoxy the articles contain. Vehement
objections were voiced, particularly to
the article “David,” to the bias in
favour of Pyrrhonistic (radical)
skepticism, atheism, and epicureanism,
and to the use of Scripture to introduce
indecencies. This oblique method of
subversive criticism was adopted by
18th-century encyclopaedists.
Bayle was convinced that
philosophical reasoning led to universal
skepticism, but that nature compelled
man to accept blind faith, an extremely
popular view in the early 18th century.
Bayle’s last years were troubled by
allegations that he was conspiring with
France to detach the Dutch from their
Anglo-Austrian alliance. On his death,
however, foe and friend alike lamented
the passing of a great intellectual.
