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The Age of Enlightenment has often been portrayed as a dogmatic
period on account of the veritable worship of reason and progress
that characterized Eighteenth Century thinkers. Even today the
philosophes are considered to have been completely dominated in
their thinking by an optimism that leads to dogmatism and
ultimately rationalism. However, on closer inspection, such a
conception seems untenable, not only after careful study of the
impact of scepticism on numerous intellectual domains in the
period, but also as a result of a better understanding of the
character of the Enlightenment. As Giorgio Tonelli has rightly
observed: "the Enlightenment was indeed the Age of Reason but one
of the main tasks assigned to reason in that age was to set its own
boundaries." Thus, given the growing number of works devoted to the
scepticism of Enlightenment thinkers, historians of philosophy have
become increasingly aware of the role played by scepticism in the
Eighteenth Century, even in those places once thought to be most
given to dogmatism, especially Germany. Nevertheless, the
deficiencies of current studies of Enlightenment scepticism are
undeniable. In taking up this question in particular, the present
volume, which is entirely devoted to the scepticism of the
Enlightenment in both its historical and geographical dimensions,
seeks to provide readers with a revaluation of the alleged decline
of scepticism. At the same time it attempts to resituate the
Pyrrhonian heritage within its larger context and to recapture the
fundamental issues at stake. The aim is to construct an alternative
conception of Enlightenment philosophy, by means of philosophical
modernity itself, whose initial stages can be found herein.
The Age of Enlightenment has often been portrayed as a dogmatic
period on account of the veritable worship of reason and progress
that characterized Eighteenth Century thinkers. Even today the
philosophes are considered to have been completely dominated in
their thinking by an optimism that leads to dogmatism and
ultimately rationalism. However, on closer inspection, such a
conception seems untenable, not only after careful study of the
impact of scepticism on numerous intellectual domains in the
period, but also as a result of a better understanding of the
character of the Enlightenment. As Giorgio Tonelli has rightly
observed: the Enlightenment was indeed the Age of Reason but one of
the main tasks assigned to reason in that age was to set its own
boundaries. Thus, given the growing number of works devoted to the
scepticism of Enlightenment thinkers, historians of philosophy have
become increasingly aware of the role played by scepticism in the
Eighteenth Century, even in those places once thought to be most
given to dogmatism, especially Germany. Nevertheless, the
deficiencies of current studies of Enlightenment scepticism are
undeniable. In taking up this question in particular, the present
volume, which is entirely devoted to the scepticism of the
Enlightenment in both its historical and geographical dimensions,
seeks to provide readers with a revaluation of the alleged decline
of scepticism. At the same time it attempts to resituate the
Pyrrhonian heritage within its larger context and to recapture the
fundamental issues at stake. The aim is to construct an alternative
conception of Enlightenment philosophy, by means of philosophical
modernity itself, whose initial stages can be found herein. "
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