The Great Protector of Wits: Baron d'Holbach and His Time

Description

'The Great Protector of Wits' provides a new assessment of baron d’Holbach (1723–1789) and his circle. A challenging figure of the European Enlightenment, Paul-Henri Thiry d’Holbach was not only a radically materialistic philosopher, a champion of anticlericalism, the author of the 'Système de la nature' – known as 'the Bible of atheists' –, an idéologue, a popularizer of the natural sciences and a prolific contributor to the 'Encyclopédie', but he also played a crucial role as an organizer of intellectual networks and was a master of disseminating clandestine literature and a consummate strategist in authorial fictions. In this collective volume, for the first time, all these different threads of d’Holbach’s 'philosophy in action' are considered and analyzed in their interconnection. Acknowledgements ix List of Illustrations x Abbreviations xi Notes on Contributors xiii Introduction / Laura Nicolì 1 Part 1. Holbach: Philosopher and Philosophe 1. Holbach’s Skepticism / Alan Charles Kors 21 2. The Concept of Natural Order in the 'Système de la Nature' / Brunello Lotti 39 3. An Empire of Lies: Holbach on Vanity and Philosophy / Enrico Galvagni 56 Part 2. Holbach: Strategist of the Enlightenment 4. Holbach traducteur, stratège et philosophe / Mladen Kozul 77 5. The Role of Prophecies: Baron D’Holbach as a Translator of Anthony Collins / Jacopo Agnesina 87 6. D’Holbach and the 'Spirit of Judaism' / Gianni Paganini 103 7. The Absent Guest: D’Holbach’s Strategic Use of Voltaire’s Texts / Ruggero Sciuto 116 Part 3. Holbach: 'Encyclopédiste' 8. La critique religieuse du baron d’Holbach dans l’'Encyclopédie': une approche méthodique / Alain Sandrier 137 9. L’autre d’Holbach : l’encyclopédiste traducteur de chimie et d’histoire naturelle / Mélanie Éphrème 149 Part 4. Holbach and His Time 10. How Many Atheists at D’Holbach’s Table? / Emilio Mazza and Gianluca Mori 173 11. D’Holbach et Diderot: une amitié plus que philosophique / Paolo Quintili 202 12. Voltaire contre la coterie holbachique / Gerhardt Stenger 218 13. D’Holbach, les cercles holbachiques et la circulation de la littérature philosophique clandestine / Maria Susana Seguin 235 14. Who Are D’Holbach’s Readers? / Nicholas Cronk 253 Part 5. Holbach and Revolutionary Consciousnesses 15. D’Holbach’s Political and Social Thought: The Democratic 'Revolution' in Western Values Prior to 1789 / Jonathan Israel 275 16. D’Holbach’s Legacy in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union / Iryna Mykhailova 300 Index Nominum 331