In the early 1980s the late Charles B. Schmitt and I discussed the fact that so much new research and new interpretations were taking place concerning various areas of modem skepticism that we, as pioneers, ought to organize a conference where these new findings and outlooks could be presented and discussed. Charles and I had both visited the great library at Wolfenbiittel, and were most happy when the Herzog August Bibliothek agreed to host the first conference on the history of skepticism, in 1984 (published as Skepticism from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, ed. R. H. Popkin and Charles B. Schmitt [Wiesbaden, 1987, Wolfenbiitteler For schungen, vol. 35]) Charles and I projected a series of later conferences, the first of which would deal with skepticism and irreligion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Unfortunately, however, Charles died suddenly in 1986, while lecturing in Padua. Subsequent to his death Constance Blackwell, his companion of many years, established the Foundation for Intellectual History to support research and publica tion on topics in the history of ideas that continued Schmitt's interests. One of the first ventures was to arrange and fund the already planned conference on skepticism and irreligion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. After many difficulties and problems, the conference was sponsored and funded by the Foundation for Intel lectual History, one of its first public activities. It was held at the lovely facilities of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Wassenaar in 1990.

Klappentext

This ground-breaking collection of essays puts an end to the common notion that Kant solved the problem of skepticism. Commemorating C.F. Stäudlin, the first historian of skepticism (1794), scholars of various disciplines in unique collaboration disclose the continuing importance of the sceptical tradition in Germany, France, and Britain. Their wide-ranging studies cover Hume, Kant, and the philosophical situation in Germany both before and after Kant, particularly the all-but-forgotten Stäudlin himself. But they also investigate the role of skepticism in the political thought of Burke and Tocqueville, in de the development of mathematical thought (Montucla) and in science (Alexander von Humboldt, Laplace, and others), and in the context of such social issues as smallpox inoculation, suicide, and capital punishment. The collection fills a major gap in the history of skepticism, emphasizing the significance of skepticism for modern life and philosophy. It is of special interest to philosophers, historians, and political scientists.

Inhalt
I. French and Scottish Skepticism.- The Existence of External Objects in Hume's Treatise: Realism, Skepticism, and the Task of Philosophy.- Hume and Skepticism in Late Eighteenth-Century France.- Brissot and Condorcet: Skeptical Philosophers.- Mathematical Skepticism: A Sketch with Historian in Foreground.- Commentary: Pascal, Skepticism, and the French Enlightenment.- II. German Skepticism up to Kant.- The Moderate Skepticism of German Popular Philosophy.- Skepticism: Philosophical Disease or Cure?.- Kant's Responses to Skepticism.- Commentary: Skepticism in Eighteenth-Century German Philosophy.- III. German Skepticism after Kant.- Putting Doubt in Its Place: Karl Leonhard Reinhold on the Relationship between Philosophical Skepticism and Transcendental Idealism.- Polemic and Dogmatism: The Two Faces of Skepticism in Aenesidemus-Schulze.- Skepticism and Methodological Monism: Aenesidemus-Schulze versus Arcesilaus-Erhard.- Commentary: Reading Schulze's Aenesidemus.- IV. Science and Skepticism.- Baconianism in Revolutionary Germany: Humboldt's Great Instauration.- A Scientist Responds to his Skeptical Crisis: Laplace's Philosophy of Science.- Analogy, Comparison, and Active Living Forces: Late Enlightenment Responses to the Skeptical Critique of Causal Analysis.- Commentary.- V. Skepticism and Political Theories.- The Practical Value of Hume's Mitigated Skepticism.- Burke and the Religious Sources of Skeptical Conservatism.- Tocqueville's Flight from Doubt and His Search for Certainty: Skepticism in a Democratic Age.- VI. Skepticism and Social Issues.- What Do You Think of Smallpox Inoculation? A Crucial Question in the Eighteenth Century, Not Only for Physicians.- Skepticism and the Discourse about Suicide in the Eighteenth Century: Traces of aPhilosophical Concept.- The Debate about Capital Punishment and Skepticism in Late Enlightenment Germany.- Commentary: Skepticism and Social Issues.- VII. Carl Friedrich Stäudlin in Context.- Some Thoughts about Stäudlin's History and Spirit of Skepticism.- Skepticism as a Sect, Skepticism as a Philosophical Stance: Johann Jakob Brucker versus Carl Friedrich Stäudlin.- Skepticism and the History of Moral Philosophy: The Case of Carl Friedrich Stäudlin.- Commentary: Stäudlin and the Historiography of Philosophy.- VIII. Skepticism Bibliography, 19891991.- Bibliography, 198991.- Bibliography Index.- Index of Names.