Pierre Bayle (1647-1706)
Pierre hated Louis XIV and ran to the Netherlands where he pushed heavily for skepticism and critical thinking. Highly influential "Historical and Critical Dictionary" (1697) showing how stupid people can be.
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)
Prscticing an unusual branch of Judaism, Baruch Spinoza believed that nature = God, that science can determine everything, and that body = mind. Ryan's comment: Perhaps an early form of pantheism?
James Beattie (1735-1803)
Not sure why the textbook doesn't list him as important. He criticized Kant, as Beattie was not racist.
Pierre hated Louis XIV and ran to the Netherlands where he pushed heavily for skepticism and critical thinking. Highly influential "Historical and Critical Dictionary" (1697) showing how stupid people can be.
David Hume (1711-1776)
Scottish, in Edinburgh, and said that reason has its limits — if you can't scientifically sense it to learn about it (or do math for it), then you can't know it. Paradoxically showed the limits of Enlightenment's faith in reason in things like the existence of God or the origin of the Universe. He also was racist.
Denis Dierot (1713-1784)
Coeditor of the Encyclopedia. Hated Europeans exploiting people. In 1751 set out to find coauthors to examine the human knowledge... 72,000 articles on everything, and it was very influential and widely read. Knowledge is awesome! Also, jailed sixty years before Darwin's birth for questioning a creating God and suggesting autonomous evolution
Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717-1783)
Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717-1783)
Coeditor of the Encyclopedia. In 1751 set out to find coauthors to examine the human knowledge... 72,000 articles on everything, and it was very influential and widely read. Knowledge is awesome!
David Hume (1711-1776)
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)
