Bayle, PIERRE, one of the most independent thinkers of the 17th century, was born in 1647 at Carlat, near Foix, in Languedoc. The son of a Calvinist pastor, he yet studied philosophy under the Jesuits at Toulouse. The arguments of his tutors, and still more his friendly intercourse and quiet disputation with a Catholic clergyman who lived in the neighbourhood, led him to doubt the orthodoxy of Protestantism, and shortly prevailed so far that he openly renounced his father's creed, and adopted Catholicism. But in seventeen months the conversation of his relatives brought him back to the Protestant profession. To escape ecclesiastical censure, he withdrew to Geneva, and thence to Coppet, on the Lake of Geneva, where he studied the philosophy of Descartes. After a few years he returned to France, and in 1675 was elected to fill the chair of Philosophy in the university of Sedan. In this office he remained until 1681, when the university was suppressed. His next appointment was that of professor of Philosophy at Rotterdam. The appearance of a comet in 1680 having given occasion to a widely spread alarm, Bayle in 1682 published his Pensées Diverses sur la Comète, a work full of learning, and treating, in discursive style, many topics of metaphysics, ethics, theology, history, and politics. This was followed by Critique Générale de l'Histoire du Calvinisme de Maimbourg. In 1684 he commenced a periodical, Nouvelles de la République des Lettres, one of the first successful attempts at a popular journal of literary criticism. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes led Bayle to write his Commentaire Philosophique sur ces Paroles de l'Évangile: 'Contraines lès d'entrer,' which professed itself to be a translation from the English, and contained a strong defence of the principle of toleration. In consequence of the accusations brought forward by the theologian Jurieu, who regarded Bayle as an agent of France, and the enemy of Protestantism, Bayle, though he skilfully defended himself, was in 1693 deprived of his license to teach. He now assiduously devoted his leisure to the Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (1st ed. 2 vols. Rotterdam, 1696; latest ed. 16 vols. Paris, 1820). This was the first work published under his own name. Again Jurieu came forward as Bayle's adversary, and induced the consistory of Rotterdam to censure the Dictionary, chiefly on account of the supposed irreligious tendency of the article on 'David,' and the commendation bestowed on the moral character of certain atheists. Bayle promised to expunge all the objectionable matter; but afterwards, when he found that the public entertained a different and more favourable opinion of the passages than the Rotterdam Consistory, he judged it best to allow them to remain as they were, or made only slight alterations. New opponents were called into the arena by his Réponse aux Questions d'un Provincial, and the continuation of his Pensées sur la Comète. Jacquelot and Leclerc now attacked his religious opinions, while others persecuted him as the enemy of Protestantism and of his adopted country, Holland. These literary and theological controversies had a bad effect on his failing health, and a disease, for which he refused to employ medical aid, proved fatal. He died December 28, 1706.
Accustomed to view every question scrupulously on all sides, Bayle was accused of doubting on religious matters generally; at least, it is not to be denied that his scepticism disbelieved the wisdom of the religious dogmatism that ruled both Catholics and Protestants in his day. His hostility to bigotry rather originated in his indifference to the doctrines about which theologians quarrelled, than in any clear conviction of the iniquity of religious persecution. His scepticism was not based on a philosophical theory, but was rather that of an accomplished littérateur. With great eloquence and persistency he vindicated the doctrine that moral characteristics may flourish independently of particular religious opinions. His learning was perhaps more varied and curious than precise; his style is clear and natural, fluent but diffuse. Many articles in the Dictionary seem to have been chosen merely as vehicles to introduce numerous digressions in notes, not a few of which are prolix and uninteresting; but the greater number of the articles are characterised by good sense, logic, critical acumen, and learning. The work was proscribed both in France and Holland, was consequently very widely diffused in both countries, and exercised an immense influence over the literature and philosophy of the Continent. It was the dawn of the scepticism of the 18th century, and may be historically regarded as the protest of the enlightened human intellect against the irrational dogmatism of the churches. In his personal character, Bayle was amiable, obliging, disinterested, and modest, but at the same time morally courageous and independent. His Œuvres Diverses were published in four volumes at the Hague (1725-31). See Life of Bayle, in French, by Desmaizeaux (Amsterdam, 1730), and in German by Feuerbach (1838).