Pierre Bayle

Pierre Bayle (18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695.

Bayle was a self-pronounced Protestant, and as a fideist he advocated a separation between the spheres of faith and reason, on the grounds of God being incomprehensible to man. As a forerunner of the Encyclopedists and an advocate of the principle of the toleration of divergent beliefs, his works subsequently influenced the development of the Enlightenment.

Read more about Pierre Bayle:  Biography, Works, Editions

Famous quotes containing the words pierre bayle, pierre and/or bayle:

    I am a good Protestant, and in the full sense of the term, for from the bottom of my soul, I protest against everything that is said, and everything that is done.
    Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)

    In Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Canada has at last produced a political leader worthy of assassination.
    Irving Layton (b. 1912)

    Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.
    —Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)