Podcast Summary: HoP 480 – Honorable Ignorance: French Skepticism

Podcast: History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
Host: Peter Adamson
Date: November 16, 2025

Overview:

In this episode, Peter Adamson delves into the rise of French skepticism in the early 17th century, especially focusing on the Libertines and their nuanced approach to knowledge, doubt, and faith. Adamson traces the philosophical legacy of skepticism from antiquity through the Renaissance, highlighting influential French figures such as Gabriel Naudé, Guy Patin, François de La Mothe Le Vayer, Pierre Gassendi, and Marin Mersenne. He explores how these thinkers reevaluated the limits of knowledge, the role of probability, and skepticism’s uneasy relation with religious faith.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Historical Arc of Skepticism (00:12–03:00)

• Ancient Roots:
  • Skepticism began powerfully in antiquity with Plato’s successors at the Academy (Carneades, Arcesilaus) and found its apex with Sextus Empiricus and Pyrrhonism.
  • Medieval philosophy largely sidelined skepticism, with rare exceptions (e.g., John of Salisbury, Nicola of Autrecourt, Al Ghazali).
• Renaissance Revival:
  • The new revival of skepticism was fueled by better access to ancient texts via the printing press.
  • Skepticism became relevant again in late 16th- and early 17th-century France, influencing thinkers such as Montaigne and Charron.

2. Skepticism and Descartes: Stale Cabbage or Fresh Dish? (02:45–06:00)

• Descartes’ ‘Stale Cabbage’ Analogy:
  • Descartes compared skeptical arguments to "stale cabbage"—they were familiar to educated readers and used as methodological hurdles, not endpoints.
  • Quote – Peter Adamson [00:29]:

    "Skeptical strategies were at this time familiar, or even over familiar to an educated readership. That was an outcome of a long process of forgetting and remembering."

• Methodological Skepticism vs. Settled Skepticism:
  • While Descartes (like Al Ghazali) used skepticism to reach certainty, French Libertines adopted skepticism as their endpoint, not as a preliminary obstacle.

3. Who Were the French Libertine Skeptics? (06:00–10:45)

• Key Figures:

  • Gabriel Naudé, Guy Patin, François de La Mothe Le Vayer, Pierre Gassendi, Samuel Sorbière.

• Libertinism Defined:

  • Not libertine in the modern, hedonistic sense, but ‘liberated’ from superstitions and intellectual conformity.
  • Emphasized intellectual freedom, willingness to question all dogmas, and admired earlier skeptics like Montaigne and Charron.

• Social Status & Motivation:

  • Many were aristocrats, courtiers, and closely attached to political leaders like Richelieu and Mazarin.

• Quote – Guy Patin [08:18]:

  "It will be a debauch, but a philosophical one and perhaps something more. For all three of us are cured of superstition and freed from the evil of scruples."

4. The Practice and Limits of Skepticism (10:45–18:30)

• Academic Skepticism vs. Pyrrhonism:
  • Sextus Empiricus (Pyrrhonist): True skepticism suspends judgment on all things, even on the possibility of knowledge.
  • Academics (e.g., Cicero): Assert knowledge is impossible—thus, “negative dogmatists.”
• Libertines sometimes blurred this distinction, exposing themselves to self-refutation arguments.
• Probabilism vs. Certainty:
  • Libertines and their followers, like Gassendi, accepted that while Aristotelian certainty was unattainable, practical reliance on probability and appearance remained possible.
• Quote – Pierre Gassendi [12:36]:

  "The intellect does not know anything in an Aristotelian fashion, nor does there exist any demonstration such as Aristotle describes it."

5. François de La Mothe Le Vayer: The Skeptic’s Skeptic (18:30–30:00)

• Background:

  • High nobility, Attorney General, tutor to French royalty.
  • Celebrated modern discoveries (e.g., Harvey’s work on blood) over ancient opinion.

• Contempt for Popular Opinion & Common Sense:

  • Opined that universal beliefs are often most wrong, and skepticism shields us from mass stupidity.

• Quote – Le Vayer [22:30]:

  "There is nothing more stupid than the multitude. No other opinions are more certainly false than those which are the most universally received."

• Critique of Dogmatism, Even Descartes:

  • Rejected the idea that nature could be reduced to mathematical laws, arguing that God deliberately limits human knowledge.

• Quote – Le Vayer [27:55]:

  "Evidently, God simply doesn't want us to understand what he has created, and it is a sort of impiety to want to fix the same boundaries to the works of God and of nature that the philosophers have imposed on our knowledge."

6. Skeptical Methods and Cultural Relativism (30:00–38:00)

• Borrowed Tools from Sextus Empiricus:
  • Doubting sense perception, different ways animals and humans experience the world, and noting wide variety in global beliefs and customs.
• Memorable Moment – Le Vayer’s Dinner Party Metaphor [34:00]:

  "Using a metaphor appropriate to his aristocratic station, Le Vayer compared the skeptic to a man at a dinner party who, by sitting at the middle of the table, can reach and sample all the dishes."

• Embrace of Cultural Diversity:
  • Admired customs of Japanese, Native Americans, and included Confucius among virtuous pagans.
• Notable Quote [36:32]:

  "[Confucius] believed in a single God and recommended the rule never to do to someone what you wouldn't want them to do to you."

7. Skepticism and Religion: Problem or Preparation for Faith? (38:00–46:00)

• Allegation: Skeptical Atheism?
  • Some contemporary and modern critics accused the Libertines, especially Le Vayer, of irreligion or even atheism.
• Le Vayer’s Response:
  • Maintained that religious faith occupies a different domain, unaffected by doubt; God set human cognitive limits intentionally.
• Quote – Le Vayer [44:55]:

  "Let us, he urges, satisfy ourselves with the boundaries that the divinity has imposed upon us."

  • Advocated for the “honorable ignorance” that prepares the soul for divine knowledge.
• Religious Toleration:
  • Argued for appreciating the virtues of non-Christians and for societal openness to belief diversity.

8. Probability as the Human Standard (46:00–51:00)

• Le Vayer's Practical Epistemology:
  • While he rejected certainty, he embraced the acceptance of what is probable (vraisemblable).
  • Quote [48:15]:

    "Since you believe the same thing when you judge it to be probable as you do when you judge it to be certain. Practically speaking, it makes no difference."

9. Contemporary Skeptical Debates: Mersenne and Gassendi (51:00–58:34)

• Marin Mersenne:
  • Strong opponent of skepticism in mathematics and metaphysics, but conceded physics could only offer probabilities.
  • Quote – Mersenne [54:30]:

    "We see only the outside, the surface of nature. Without being able to enter inside. And we shall never possess any other science than that of its exterior effects...until it pleases God to deliver us from this misery."

• Jean de Silhon:
  • Criticized skepticism for undermining even faith, since revelation depends on senses and testimony, both doubted by skeptics.
• Pierre Gassendi’s Transformation:
  • Early Gassendi: Modeled on Pyrrhonian skepticism, prized suspension of judgment.
  • Later Gassendi: Developed an empiricist and atomist natural philosophy, carving a path beyond radical doubt.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:29] Peter Adamson:

  "Skeptical strategies were at this time familiar, or even over familiar to an educated readership..."

• [08:18] Guy Patin (on the libertines' ethos):

  "It will be a debauch, but a philosophical one and perhaps something more. For all three of us are cured of superstition and freed from the evil of scruples."

• [22:30] Le Vayer:

  "No other opinions are more certainly false than those which are the most universally received."

• [27:55] Le Vayer (on the limits of human knowledge):

  "God simply doesn't want us to understand what he has created, and it is a sort of impiety to want to fix the same boundaries to the works of God and of nature..."

• [34:00] Le Vayer (dinner party metaphor for skepticism):

  "The skeptic [is] like a man at a dinner party who, by sitting at the middle of the table, can reach and sample all the dishes."

• [44:55] Le Vayer:

  "Let us... satisfy ourselves with the boundaries that the divinity has imposed upon us."

• [48:15] Adamson, paraphrasing Le Vayer:

  "Practically speaking, it makes no difference [whether we believe something probable or certain]."

• [54:30] Marin Mersenne:

  "We see only the outside, the surface of nature... we shall never possess any other science than that of its exterior effects..."

Important Timestamps

• 00:12 – Introduction and history of skepticism
• 06:00 – Rise and profile of French Libertines
• 18:30 – François de La Mothe Le Vayer’s life and philosophy
• 30:00 – Skeptical strategies and cultural relativism
• 38:00 – Skepticism’s relation to religion and faith
• 46:00 – Embracing probability instead of certainty
• 51:00 – Skeptical debates with Mersenne, de Silhon, and Gassendi
• 58:34 – Episode conclusion, tease for next episode on Gassendi’s atomism

Tone and Style

• Scholarly & Witty: Adamson mixes rigorous philosophical exposition with light humor and historical anecdotes.
• Accessible but Precise: The episode is aimed at both scholars and lay listeners, never assuming prior familiarity but rewarding close attention.

Summary for New Listeners

This episode traces the vibrant world of early modern French skepticism, its social context, and its intellectual influence. Adamson shows how skepticism, for these thinkers, was less a threat to knowledge or faith than a mark of intellectual strength and a path toward greater liberty and tolerance. Through rich historical detail and lively quotes, the episode paints the Libertines as radical yet religious, skeptical yet practical—their “honorable ignorance” forever undermining dogma and upholding both probability and faith as the best mortals can hope for.