Pierre Bayle

Pierre Bayle [ bɛl ] ( born November 18, 1647 Le Carla, today: Carla- Bayle, department Ariège, † December 28, 1706 in Rotterdam) was a French writer and philosopher, who together with the 10 years younger Fontenelle as the central figure the Enlightenment applies. His most important work is the Dictionnaire historique et critique.

Life and work

Born in a Pyrenean village as the son of a Huguenot preacher, he studied from 1666 at the Protestant Academy of Puylaurens ( Dep. Tarn). 1669 he moved to the Jesuit college of Toulouse, after he had converted to Catholicism. 18 months later he made his conversion reversed and fled after graduation in August 1670 relaps ( renegade ) in Calvinist Geneva. Here he hired himself out from September 1670 to June 1674 as a private tutor ( précepteur ) and dealt with philosophy, particularly with that of René Descartes. Then he went, also as a tutor, to Rouen and Paris, where there were greater Reformed congregations at that time.

In 1675 he became professor of philosophy at the Protestant Academy at Sedan Duchy of Lorraine, which was then formally still part of the German Empire. When the Academy was closed in 1681 due to the increasing constriction of French Protestantism and the growing collection of Lorraine by France, Bayle, like so many Calvinist French intellectuals went to Holland and received in October 1681 in Rotterdam at the newly opened Municipal Gymnasium ( Scholastic illustris ) a professor of philosophy and history.

1682 published his first book of the Enlightenment: Lettre sur la comète de 1680 ( " Letter on the comet of 1680 "), which in 1683 extended as Pensées diverses sur la comète de 1680 ( " Various thoughts on the comet of 1680 " ) was published. Herein Bayle initially refuted the superstitious notions that were associated with comets, and he promotes the idea that all knowledge must be critically reviewed constantly. Although Bayle defended verbally the Christian faith against the fallen into fashion disbelief, but at the same time creates the foundations of a non-religious specific morals or ethics, in which he - which is anything but, of course, was at that time - believes that an atheist may not necessarily immoral and must act immorally.

From 1684-87 Bayle was the editor and principal contributor of literary and scientific journal Nouvelles de la République des Lettres ( "News from the Republic of education" ), which at that scattered across Europe spiritually oriented audience interested, the French as the language of literature, philosophy and science dominated.

As at October 17, 1685 picked up the Louis XIV of Henry IV issued Edict of Tolerance (the famous EDIT de Nantes) and thus resulted in the flight of more than 200,000 Protestants from France, Bayle responded with two critical writings: Ce que c'est que la France toute catholique sous le règne de Louis le Grand ( "What allerkatholischste France under the reign of Louis the Great [ in truth ] is ", 1686), where he denounces the religious intolerance and the fusion of church and state, and Commentaire philosophique sur ces paroles de Jésus-Christ " contrains -les d' entrer " ( " Philosophical commentary on the words of Christ, ' Compel them to come ' ", 1687 ), where he calls for freedom of conscience, and for other faiths and atheists, not only as moral principle, but as a matter of common sense. The areas of the state, he wanted to disassociate religion.

In the same year his brother Jacob was arrested and managed to get to Bordeaux from prison, where he died after half a year.

Ever since the Pensées Bayle was not only the Catholics suspect, but also many Protestants, his rationalist and liberal attitude in denominational and faith issues as capped Deism, if not considered atheism. From the Protestant side, in particular by Pierre Jurieu, a former colleague at Sedan, he was therefore attacked violently as he discovers not unreasonably, the anonymous signature Avis important aux réfugiés ( " Important advice to the refugees," 1690) attributed, wherein prior to the machinations of the agitators is warned among the emigrant Huguenots, who sought to drive in a war of revenge against Louis XIV Holland and England.

1693 Bayle lost his professorship and devoted himself entirely to the work on his Dictionnaire historique et critique ( 2 vols 1695/96, 4 vols 1702), that a Dutch publisher had quasi ordered and financed. This was originally supposed to be an improved version of Grand Dictionnaire historique ( 1674 passim ), a name and personal lexicon of the Jesuit Louis MORERI, however, developed a new type of reference. Bayle was not limited to a survey of contemporary knowledge about historical people and figures (including in particular those of the Bible ), but he tried beyond and above all, a critical examination of this knowledge. To this end, he introduced a groundbreaking innovation that he held the actual article short and limited to the factual them but detailed, and sometimes several columns long footnotes was handed out, in which he quoted sources and authorities, often those that contradict each other, which he forced the reader to question seemingly securitized facts and their own thinking and decisions. Bayle thus demonstrated that historiography not know how to previously accepted mostly implied, is made in mere collecting and presenting the facts, but the facts themselves are problematic and their critical reconstruction and interpretation forms the core task of historical research. According to Ernst Cassirer Bayle became the " actual creator of the historical meticulousness ."

Due to its rational sound skeptical arguments differed Bayle strictly between faith and opinion and knowledge. The ability to absolutely true knowledge he denied, but stressed his personal belief in the ultimately incomprehensible Christian religion.

On this basis, he noted:

Bayles lexicon experienced to 1760 more than 10 editions. It was the first critical and specific for the educated public summary of the findings of the early Enlightenment. A German translation, written by several anonymous employees under the direction of well-known writers Johann Christoph Gottsched, appeared in 1741-44 as " Peter Baylens historical and critical dictionary " in Leipzig.

Bayle himself, however, did not live to its recognition. He spent his final years with defenses against the accusations, which earned him his lexicon, and in polemics against Pierre Jurieu and other Reformed theologians. Autographs from him are held, inter alia, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library.

Works

• Pensées diverses, écrites à un docteur de Sorbonne, à l' occasion de la comète qui parut au mois de décembre 1680. Leers, Rotterdam 1683-1694 Critical Edition: A. Prat and P. Retat (ed.): Pensées diverses sur la comète. Cornély, Paris 1911-12, reprint: 1984, 1994
• German as: Johann Christoph Gottsched ( translator's ), Johann Christoph Faber (ed.): Various a doctor of the Sorbonne shared thoughts about the comet that appeared in the month of December 1680 ( = Loeb Classical Library, Volume 592 ). Verlag Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1975
• English as: Robert C. Bartlett ( translator and essay ): Various Thoughts on the Occasion of A Comet. State University of New York Press, Albany 2000, ISBN 0-7914 4547 - X

• German as: Johann Christoph Gottsched ( Translator, notes): Mr. Peter Baylens Historical and Critisches dictionary. Breitkopf, Leipzig 1741-1744, reprint: Olms, Hildesheim 1997, edition of 1813, Leipzig & Lübeck online at google -books (also pdf 52MB )
• Günther Gawlick and Lothar Kreimendahl ( translator's and eds.): Historical and Critical Dictionary ( = Philosophical Library, Volume 542, and 582 ). Meiner, Hamburg 2002 and 2006, ISBN 3-7873-1619-1, ISBN 978-3-7873-1786-8