Atheism in France, 1650-1729. Volume I, The orthodox sources of disbelief / Alan Charles Kors.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kors, Alan Charles, author.

Series:

Princeton legacy library.

Princeton legacy library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Atheism--France--History--17th century.

Atheism.

Atheism--France--History--18th century.

France--Intellectual life--17th century.

France.

France--Intellectual life--18th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (409 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1990]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Although most historians have sought the roots of atheism in the history of "free thought," Alan Charles Kors contends that attacks on the existence of God were generated above all by the vitality and controversies of orthodox theistic culture itself. In this first volume of a planned two-volume inquiry into the sources and nature of atheism, he shows that orthodox teachers and apologists in seventeenth-century France were obliged by the logic of their philosophical and pedagogical systems to create many models of speculative atheism for heuristic purposes. Unusual in its broad sampling of the religious literature of the early-modern learned world, this book reveals that the "great fratricide" among bitterly competing schools of Aristotelian, Cartesian, and Malebranchist Christian thought encouraged theologians to refute each other's proofs of God and to depict the ideas of their theological opponents as atheistic. Such "fratricide" was not new in the history of Christendom, but Kors demonstrates that its influence was dramatically amplified by the expanding literacy of the seventeenth century. Capturing the attention of the reading public, theological debate provided intellectual grounds for the disbelief of the first generation of atheistic thinkers.Originally published in 1990.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction. Intellectual History and the History of Atheism

PART ONE: Atheists without Atheism; Atheism without Atheists

CHAPTER ONE. Atheists without Atheism

CHAPTER TWO. Thinking about the Unthinkable

CHAPTER THREE. Atheism without Atheists

CHAPTER FOUR. Before Belief: Philosophy and Preamble

PART TWO: Other Peoples and Other Minds: Thinking about Universal Consent

CHAPTER FIVE. Other Peoples

CHAPTER SIX. The Ancients

CHAPTER SEVEN. The History of Philosophy

PART THREE: The Fratricide

CHAPTER EIGHT. The Great Contest

CHAPTER NINE. The Assault on Cartesian Proofs of God

CHAPTER TEN. The Assault on Proofs from the Sensible World

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Malebranche; the Firestorm; the Toll

Index

Notes:

Originally published: Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1990].

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed August 7, 2014).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691637419

0691637415

9781400860791

1400860792

9780691609065

0691609063

OCLC:

884012905