Page:A Brief History of Modern Philosophy.djvu/61

58 to faith, Pascal applies the Cartesian psychology and says: We are machines as well as mind; begin with the machine, accustom yourself to the ceremonies, and your mind will also finally yield.

Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) was rather a man of letters than a philosopher. His interest consisted in explaining and interpreting literary productions and speculative opinions in their manifold variety. But his desire for clearness impelled him to distinguish sharply between the various standpoints and to emphasize the crux of the problems rather than any illusory solution. (Dictionnaire historique et critique, 1695 ff.) He was particularly opposed to all efforts to reconcile faith and knowledge, theology and philosophy. He regarded the problem of evil as the great rock of offense. If we resolutely follow reason, it is impossible to reconcile the reality of evil with the omnipotence and goodness of God, and the only consistent solution that remains is the Manichæan assumption of two world principles, one evil, the other good. We are obliged to choose between reason and faith. (Dictionnaire Art. Manicheisme.—Response aux questions d’un provincial.) He nevertheless believes in a natural basis for ethics, and, furthermore, because the actions of men are determined more by their nature than by their religious opinions, he was in position to defend toleration and religious freedom with great zeal. (Pensées diverses a l’occasion de la comète.)

2. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) made the first independent attempt to treat the new mechanical theory of nature as the only science, to maintain its viewpoints as the only ones from which reality is to be conceived. Energetic as a thinker and controversialist, mild and timid in his mode of life, Hobbes, like Descartes, was dissatisfied with his scholastic training, and hence devoted himself to literary