Article ID: CBB465549268

The Poison and the Spider's Web: Diderot and Eighteenth-Century French Epicureanism (2015)

unapi

This article argues that the term ‘Epicurean’ had multiple meanings in the moral and political thought of the eighteenth century. Concentrating on the reception of Epicureanism in France, it shows that some critics focused on Epicurus’ hedonistic moral psychology and labelled Epicurean those thinkers who denied natural sociability; for others, who instead focused on Epicurus’ materialist natural philosophy, to label a thinker an Epicurean was to label them an atheist. This polyvalence is presented as a salutary caution against essentialising claims about the content of eighteenth-century Epicureanism per se. Despite this sceptical stance, however, the article goes on to argue that it is nevertheless fruitful to investigate the engagement with Epicureanism by particular thinkers or in particular texts. Indeed, a comparative reading of Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie entry on ‘Epicuréisme’ and his source material in Johan Jakob Bruker and Pierre Bayle demonstrates that Diderot used his discussion of Epicureanism to intervene directly in contemporary theological controversies over the immortal soul and a providential god.

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Authors & Contributors
Lloyd, Henry Martyn
Cristina Santinelli
Coleman, Charly
Missé, Blanca
Buchan, Bruce
Giovanni Cristiani
Concepts
Atheism; agnosticism; irreligion
Materialism
Moral philosophy
Natural philosophy
Theology
Science and religion
Time Periods
18th century
Enlightenment
17th century
19th century
Ancient
Places
France
Scotland
Italy
Great Britain
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