Pierre Gassendi and the Birth of Early Modern Philosophy

This book offers a comprehensive treatment of the philosophical system of the seventeenth-century philosopher Pierre Gassendi. Gassendi's importance is widely recognized and is essential for understanding early modern philosophers and scientists such as Locke, Leibniz and Newton. Offering a systematic overview of his contributions, LoLordo situates Gassendi's views within the context of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century natural philosophy as represented by a variety of intellectual traditions, including scholastic Aristotelianism, Renaissance Neo-Platonism, and the emerging mechanical philosophy. LoLordo's work will be essential reading for historians of early modern philosophy and science. – Contents : – Introduction. – 1. Gassendi's life and times; – 2. Gassendi's philosophical opponents; – 3. Skepticism, perception and the truth of the appearances; – 4. Cognition, knowledge and the theory of signs; – 5. Space and time; – 6. Atoms and causes; – 7. Bodies and motion; – 8. Generation, life and the corporeal soul; – 9. The metaphysics of body; – 10. Faith, reason and the immaterial soul. – Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-271) and index.