The 12^th International Conference of
	ISSEI	In cooperation With
	International Society for the Study of European Ideas

Section V: Religion, Philosophy, Anthropology, Psychology, Language

Workshop: Scepticism between Science, Literature and Philosophy

Chair: Sébastien Charles

The analysis of the revival of scepticism in early modern times, which was done notably by Richard Popkin, has shown the importance of the sceptic figure in order to better understand early modern philosophy. In particular, it has shown the real function of Cartesianism, which was the most prodigious war machine against sceptical philosophy. But the diffusion of scepticism at that time was larger than the philosophical field; it also touched literature and science, creating new problems and hypotheses. In fact, scepticism was one of the major problems and matters of interest of the République des lettres.

Given these conditions, the way in which literature presented the sceptic figure still needs exploring. It is well-known, for instance, that Molière made comical use of the sceptic’s suspension of judgement. What other representations can we find of this figure in early modern literature? And how was scepticism addressed by a science that pretended to reach a universal truth? A specific focus on such major figures of scepticism in early modern times as Montaigne, Gassendi, Huet, La Mothe le Vayer, or Bayle, could help us answer these two questions and understand the nature and function of scepticism in regard to literature and science. For example, by insisting on the relativity of customs and habits, the sceptics have forced writers to take into account other cultures, and even to write in favour of them. And by evoking the difficulty to find the truth, even for modern scientists, they have encouraged scholars to adopt a probabilistic conception of science, which has some relation to later empiricism. In this perspective, scepticism is crucial to our comprehension of early modern times, and it is important to deal with other aspects than just the philosophical ones in order to better evaluate its impact on this time-period.

Workshop Schedule (Tuesday, August 3, 2010)

9:00-9:40: Luiz Eva (Universidade Federal do Parana), « Le rôle de la fiction dans la Première Méditation de Descartes »

9:40-10:20: Sébastien Charles (Université de Sherbrooke), « Scepticisme et cartésianisme selon Huet »

10:20-10:40: Coffee break

10:40-11:20: Alexandra Torero-Ibad (Université de Liège), « Scepticisme et critique de l’aristotélisme chez La Mothe Le Vayer »

11:20-12:00: Benjamin Hill (University of Western Ontario), « From Probabilitas to Probability: Academic Skepticism in the Early Royal Society »

12:00-13:00: Lunch time

13:00-13h40: Nicolas Corréard (Université de Nantes), « Anti-scientific skepticism and the satire of the Royal Society in Samuel Butler, Margaret Cavendish and Jonathan Swift: exposing the “fictions” of science »

13:40-14:20: Anton Matytsin (Pennsylvania University), « Skepticism and Certainty in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Speculations about the Plurality of Worlds »

14:20-15:00: Jean-Pierre Grima (Université de Franche-Comté), « Littérature et science ibériques face au scepticisme: Feijoo et Martinez »

15:00-16:30: Free city tour of Ankara–Anıtkabir, Ankara Castle and historic Ankara houses, Atatürk Forest Farm

Sébastien Charles

Département de philosophie

Université de Sherbrooke

Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1

Canada

Sebastien.Charles@USherbrooke.ca

[The conference] [Feedback] [Contact us]

Please direct any questions or comments about this website and/or report broken links to Rachel Ben-David