Montaigne, Hobbes, and Bayle on the Archaeology of Religion. Issue 2 (2nd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: MacPhail, Eric
• Is Part Of: Early modern French studies. Volume 38:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 111
• Page End: 120
• Publication Date: 2016-07-02
• Subjects: Montaigne -- Bayle -- Hobbes -- causality -- superstition -- religion; French literature -- 16th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; French literature -- 17th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; French literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Civilization; French literature; France -- Civilization -- 1328-1600 -- Periodicals; France -- Civilization -- 17th century -- Periodicals; France -- Civilization -- 18th century -- Periodicals; France; Criticism, interpretation, etc; Periodicals; 944.03
• DOI: 10.1080/20563035.2016.1235368
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2056-3035

Abstract

Abstract : This article proposes a comparison between Michel de Montaigne, Thomas Hobbes, and Pierre Bayle on the basis of their common understanding of the origin of religion, an understanding that can be called an archaeology of religion. The key to the comparison is the reading of Montaigne's chapter 'Des boyteux' (III, 11) offered by Bayle in his Pensées diverses sur la comète, a reading that presupposes the argument laid out in Chapter 12 of Hobbes's Leviathan . The article suggests some creative tension between these three texts in respect of a major topic of early modern thought: political theology.