Academic Scepticism in Early Modern Philosophy

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 main modern key figures, including Gassendi, 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.

Plinio Junqueira Smith is professor of History of Modern Philosophy and Theory of Knowledge at Universidade Federal de Sao 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, Lumieres, Aufklarung, Dordrecht, Springer, 2013 (with Sebastien Charles). He translated Malebranches’s De la recherche de la verite into Portuguese. Sebastien Charles is the Dean of Research and Creativity at Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (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. Theories et pratiques de l’antiquite aux Lumieres, Paris, Honore Champion, 2014 (with Gianni Paganini); Hume et la religion, Hildesheim, Georg Olms Verlag, 2013; Scepticism in the Eighteenth Century. Enlightenment, Lumieres, Aufklarung, Dordrecht, Springer, 2013 (with Plinio Junqueira Smith); Descartes et ses critiques, Quebec, Presses de l’Universite Laval, 2011 (with Syliane Malinowski-Charles).