1 Holbach’s Skepticism
In: The Great Protector of WitsSearch for other papers by Alan Charles Kors in
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Abstract
Often seen as a dogmatic in his materialism, ethics, and political philosophy, Paul-Henri Thiry, baron d’Holbach was, with his closest associates, deeply skeptical about the human ability to seek truth and about the seemingly inherent flaws of human nature, which profoundly affected both his presentation of atheism and his sense of human possibility. However “radical” Holbach’s alienation from the beliefs and practices of his contemporaneous world, he was pessimistic about demonstrative knowledge and fundamental political change. Seen in this light, his political and philosophical works reveal a far more complex thinker than is usually recognized, a philosophe unconvinced that what he most would hope for concerning the future of human thought and society was realizable. An examination of similar themes in the work of his closest colleagues, Naigeon, Grimm, and Diderot, will illustrate that he was not alone.