Recensión: Materialismo y ateísmo. La filosofía de un libertino del siglo XVII

«FRAGMENTOS DE FILOSOFÍA», NÚM. 6, 2008, pp. 143-169. ISSN: 1132-3329 RECENSIÓN Ma celino Rod íguez Donís, Ma e ialismo y a eísmo. La iloso ía de un libe ino del siglo XVII, Se illa, Sec e a iado de Publicaciones de la Uni e sidad de Se illa, 2008. Mo e han six y yea s ago, Lucien Feb e w o e ha o ask i anyone in he six een h cen u y was an a heis was “une ques ion mal posée”.1 Wha he mean was ha people in ha cen u y did no ha e he wo ds, syn ax, and pe spec i e o gi e he ques ion meaning. I was an age in which people wan ed so much o belie e ha hey could no disbelie e, he w o e. And he was su ely a leas pa ly igh : we, oo, canno e en imagine some hings ha migh become common knowledge in he u u e. Un o una ely, Feb e’s no ion became he o hodoxy o many decades, and spilled o e in o in e - p e a ions o he se en een h cen u y. Bu by he se en een h cen u y, i was alse. Too many schola s do no ca ch he change, because hey limi hem- sel es o he published ex s o he pe iod. Bu hey a e only he ip o he ice- be g. This olume b ings back o ou philosophical a en ion one o he g ea a heis ical manusc ip s o he se en een h cen u y, i led Theoph as us edi i- us. No hing is known abou he au ho . The ex was w i en in La in in 1659, and he e a e only ou known manusc ip s. The i s mode n edi ion was published in 1981, bu i has no been widely ead because he e is no comple e ansla ion in o a e nacula Eu opean language.2 The ex ensi e pa aph asing in his olume will make i s con en accessible o many mo e 1 Lucien Feb e, La P oblème de l’inc oyance au XVIe siècle: le eligion de Rabelais (Pa is: Albin Michel, 1942, 1968). 2 Theoph as us edi i us, eds. Guido Canziani and Gianni Paganini (Fi enze: La Nuo a I alia, 1981). The e is an impo an p elimina y eading o he cosmology o he manusc ip in Miguel Bení ez, La Face cachée des Lumiè es (Pa is: Uni e si as, 1996), 421-431. RECENSIÓN «FRAGMENTOS DE FILOSOFÍA», NÚM. 6, 2008, pp. 59-80. ISSN: 1132-3329 172 eade s han e e be o e, and he co e announces ha a ansla ion in o Spanish is o hcoming. The c i ical analysis in his olume b ings ou i s im- po ance o ea ly mode n philosophy. I used o be ano he o hodoxy ha any ea ly mode n philosophe wo h his sal was a Pla onis , an A is o elian, a S oic, o an Epicu ean. Bu his judgmen es s on a e y enden ious idea ha hose schools a e na u al kinds, essen ials ound in he wo ld, and ha philosophy mus ep oduce hem ex- clusi ely. Bu wha e idence do we ha e o ha ? Rod íguez Donís’s wo k shows us ha ou anonymous au ho d ew on he skep ics and he cynics, oo. And he was no alone: Gianni Paganini has e y ecen ly edi ed a jou nal issue wi h a icles on he con empo a y implica ions o each o S oicism, Epi- cu eanism, skep icism, and cynicism.3 D awing hea ily on Sex us Empi icus, Lucian (which b ings ou he impo - ance o humo in philosophy), Machia elli, Bodin, Pomponazzi, Vanini, and o he s, he anonymous au ho o his ex was e y eclec ic. Some philoso- phe s ha e hough ha his mus ep esen muddled hinking, and ha any- one who hinks like his is simply no a good philosophe . Bu Michael Alb ech has shown ha he e we e many good philosophe s o eclec ic as es om ancien G eek imes on, wi h s ong ep esen a ion in he se en een h cen u y.4 The o iginal G eek Theoph as us has a place in his his o y,5 bu Theoph as us edi i us does no , al hough Rod íguez Donís’s analysis sugges s ha i should. Wha i he bes philosophy o li e is eclec icism? Ou anony- mous au ho migh come ou p e y well i he s anda d o philosophy is aken o be i s abili y o help us li e a good li e, as ecen philosophe s such as Pie e Hado and Alexande Nehamas ha e insis ed.6 The las book o he manusc ip is a p esc ip ion o li ing acco ding o na u e, and much o i is inspi ed by he ancien cynics.7 E en i he migh be igh abou how o li e, he anonymous au ho is no always ully consis en no igh abou his philosophy. Rod íguez Donís sup- 3 Gianni Paganini, ed., Special Issue on Hellenis ic philosophy, I ide 56, 2009. 4 Michael Alb ech , Eklek ik: eine Beg i sgeschich e mi hinweisen au die Philosophie- und Wis- senscha sgeschich e (S u ga : F ommann-Holzboog, 1994). 5 Alb ech , Eklek ik, 77, 120, 244, 698. 6 Alexande Nehamas, The A o Li ing (Be keley: Uni e si y o Cali o nia P ess, 1998); Pi- e e Hado , Qu’es -ce que la philosophie an ique? (Pa is: Gallima d, 1995). 7 On he cynics, see William Desmond, The G eek P aise o Po e y (No e Dame: No e Dame Uni e si y P ess, 2006). RECENSIÓN «FRAGMENTOS DE FILOSOFÍA», NÚM. 6, 2008, pp. 59-80. ISSN: 1132-3329 173 plies a c i ical analysis ha b ings ou many an apo ia in his a gumen . Bu we can o en lea n as much om a philosophe ’s mis akes as om his successes. This ex belongs in he cen e o he ongoing ee alua ion o he de el- opmen o philosophy in he se en een h cen u y. I was a pi o al ex in lib- e ine and a heis cul u e. I con ibu ed o a sea change in a ailable men al u ni u e in se en een h cen u y philosophy and in ellec ual his o y ha is only ecen ly coming o ligh . We used o ead Moliè e as a Ch is ian, bu now we can ead him as a libe ine.8 Some o he oo s o Ma in Mulsow’s adical ea ly enligh enmen in Ge many may be ound he e: wo o he ou manusc ip s we ha e a e ound oday in Wien, and all o hem seem o be de i ed om a copy collec ed o P ince Eugene by Ba on Hohendo .9 Win ied Sch oede ’s majo wo k on a heism o eg ounds he Theoph as us edi i us.10 Gianluca Mo i’s con incing claim ha Pie e Bayle was a philoso- phical a heis , e en i he migh ha e been a sen imen al Cal inis , d ew on his ex .11 Bu whe e Bayle hinks ha a heis s could make up a h i ing epublic, he anonymous au ho hinks ha widesp ead a heism would lead o ana chy. Finally, Gianni Paganini’s mas e ul philosophical analysis o se en een h- cen u y skep icism, well awa e o he Theoph as us edi i us, has gi en us a new iew o he de elopmen o such skep icism ha changes ou iew o Desca es.12 Jona han Is ael did no men ion Theoph as us edi i us in he i s olume o his massi e ein e p e a ion o he adical Enligh enmen as s emming in all impo an espec s om Spinoza, e en hough i alls wi hin he da es 1650- 1750 ha he claims o co e .13 The ac ha i was w i en be o e Spinoza pub- lished any hing unde mines he claim ha Spinoza was so uniquely impo - an . In he second olume o his ongoing p ojec Is ael ci es Theoph as us edi- i us a ew imes as ep esen a i e o I alian na u alism – he school o Pom- 8 An ony McKenna, Moliè e d ama u ge libe ine (Pa is: Champion, 2005). 9 Ma in Mulsow, Mode ne aus dem Un e g und: adikale F ühau klä ung in Deu schland, 1680- 1720 (Hambu g: Meine , 2002), 3, 21, 25, 215. 10 Win ied Sch öde , U sp unge des A heismus: Un e suchungen zu Me aphysik- und Religion- sk i ik des 17. und 18. Jah hunde s (S u ga : F ommann-Holzboog, 1998), 22, 28, 76, 120, 144, 151, 180, 193, 218-232, 246-247, 273-278, 297-298, 404-407, e c. 11 Gianluca Mo i, Bayle philosophe (Pa is: Champion, 1999), 221. 12 Gianni Paganini, Skepsis: Le Déba des mode nes su le scep icisme (Pa is: V in, 2008); see also Gianni Paganini, Les Philosophies clandes ines à l’age classique (Pa is: P esses uni e si ai es de F ance, 2005). 13 Jona han Is ael, Radical Enligh enmen : Philosophy and he Making o Mode ni y 1650-1750 (Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2001). RECENSIÓN «FRAGMENTOS DE FILOSOFÍA», NÚM. 6, 2008, pp. 59-80. ISSN: 1132-3329 174 ponazzi, Ca dano, B uno, and Vanini– bu claims ha Spinoza wen beyond i .14 He poin s ou ha Pie e Bayle conside ed Theoph as us edi i us pa o he chain ha connec ed he ma e ialis philosophy o ancien G eece wi h his own age.15 This wo k is e y impo an o he his o y o poli ical philosophy because i b ings oge he many o he a gumen s o he heo y ha eligion is he p oduc o poli ical manipula ion, om euheme ism o Machia ellianism. I is also impo an o see ha he philosophically adical au ho o his ex was no poli ically adical. Like many libe ines o he se en een h cen u y adi- ion, as o Richa d Ro y in ou day, philosophy is some hing o he eli e o keep a home while he masses a e augh pious lies o keep hem in line. The o egoing a emp o si ua e his new book in he g owing li e a u e on clandes ine philosophy in he se en een h cen u y could no do jus ice o he ichness, nuance, and de ail o his book. I any o hese opics ha e piqued he eade ’s in e es , he eade is ad ised o pick up his book and ead i . John Ch is ian Lau sen Uni e si y o Cali o nia, Ri e side 14 Jona han Is ael, Enligh enmen Con es ed: Philosophy, Mode ni y, and he Emancipa ion o Man 1670-1750 (Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2006), 481, 625. 15 Is ael, Enligh enmen Con es ed, 628.