Bayle Pierre (1647–1706), French philosopher who also pioneered in disinterested, critical history. A Calvinist forced into exile in 1681, Bayle nevertheless rejected the prevailing use of history as an instrument of partisan or sectarian interest. He achieved fame and notoriety with his multivolume Dictionnaire historique et critique (1695). For each subject covered, Bayle provided a biographical sketch and a dispassionate examination of the historical record and interpretive controversies. He also repeatedly probed the troubled and troubling boundary between reason and faith (philosophy and religion). In the article ‘David,’ the seemingly illicit conduct of God’s purported agent yielded reflections on the morals of the elect and the autonomy of ethics. In ‘Pyrrho,’ Bayle argued that self-evidence, the most plausible candidate for the criterion of truth, is discredited by Christianity because some self-evident principles contradict essential Christian truths and are therefore false. Finally, provoking Leibniz’s Theodicy, Bayle argued, most relentlessly in ‘Manichaeans’ and ‘Paulicians,’ that there is no defensible rational solution to the problem of evil.
Bayle portrayed himself as a Christian skeptic, but others have seen instead an ironic critic of religion – a precursor of the French Enlightenment. Bayle’s purely philosophical reflections support his self-assessment, since he consistently maintains that philosophy achieves not comprehension and contentment, but paradox and puzzlement. In making this case he proved to be a superb critic of philosophical systems. Some examples are ‘Zeno of Elea’ – on space, time, and motion; ‘Rorarius’ – on mind and body and animal mechanism; and ‘Spinoza’ – on the perils of monism. Bayle’s skepticism concerning philosophy significantly influenced Berkeley and Hume. His other important works include Pensées diverses de la comète de 1683 (1683); Commentaire philosophique sur ces paroles de Jesus Christ: contrain les d’entrer (1686); and Réponse aux questions d’un provincial (1704); and an early learned periodical, the Nouvelles de la République des Lettres (1684– 87). See also LEIBNIZ. P.D.C. Beattie, James (1735–1803), Scottish philosopher and poet who, in criticizing Hume, widened the latter’s audience. A member of the Scottish school of common sense philosophy along with Oswald and Reid, Beattie’s major work was An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth (1771), in which he criticizes Hume for fostering skepticism and infidelity. His positive view was that the mind possesses a common sense, i.e., a power for perceiving self-evident truths. Common sense is instinctive, unalterable by education; truth is what common sense determines the mind to believe. Beattie cited Hume and then claimed that his views led to moral and religious evils. When Beattie’s Essay was translated into German (1772), Kant could read Hume’s discussions of personal identity and causation. Since these topics were not covered in Hume’s Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Beattie provided Kant access to two issues in the Treatises of Human Nature critical to the development of transcendental idealism. See also HUME, SCOT- TISH COMMON SENSE PHILOSOPH. P.K.