Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet

386 Pages·2000·9.549 MB·English

by  Pierre Bayle, Robert C. Bartlett

V
ARlO US THOUGHTS
OccAsioN
ON THE
OFACOMET

PIERRE BAYLE
VARIOUS THOUGHTS
ON THE OccASION
OF A COMET
Translated with Notes and an Interpretive Essay
by Robert C. Bartlett
State University ofN ew York Press
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State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bayle, Pierre, 164 7-1706.
[Pensees diverses sur Ia comete. English]
Various thoughts on the occasion of a comet I Pierre Bayle ; translated with notes and
an interpretive essay by Robert C. Bardett.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0--7914-4547-X (alk. paper)- ISBN 0--7914-4548-8 (pbk.: a1k. paper)
1. Comets-Miscellanea. 2. Superstition. 3. Comets-Religious aspects. 4. Religion and
politics. 5. Rationalism. I. Bartlett, Robert C., 1964- II. Tide.
BF1779.C6 B3913 2000
133.3'34---dc21 00-022910
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CoNTENTS
..
Preface vu
Outline •
IX
Table of Sections •
X1
Introduction •••
XX111
V 1
ARlO US THOUGHTS ON THE OCCASION OF A COMET
Biblical Passages Cited 317
Bibliography of Principal Works Cited 319
Index of Proper Names 327

PREFACE
I have been fortunate in having been granted permission to base my translation
on the critical edition of A. Prat, first published in 1911 and reissued in 1994 with ad
ditional notes by Pierre Retat: Pensles diverses sur Ia comete (Paris: Societe des
Textes Modernes, 1994). Numbered footnotes are my own, as is all material
Fran~is
included in square brackets. Where Bayle himself does not translate or paraphrase a
given citation, I have supplied a translation of it; in the few places where he quotes an
original Greek source and translates it into Latin, I have substituted for both my own
rendering of the Greek. Translations of biblical quotations are taken from the King
James Version. Lettered notes are Bayle's, and I have for the most part retained his
sometimes inconsistent spelling of proper names and often heavily abbreviated cita
tions. For fuller citations, the reader may consult the bibliography at the end of the
volume. This addition, together with the outline, list of biblical references, and index,
do not appear in Bayle's text and are therefore my responsibility.
I extend my thanks to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a postdoctoral
fellowship at Emory University that supported me during the time I prepared this vol
ume. A generous summer grant from the Earhart Foundation allowed me the free
dom to complete the introduction, and I am very grateful to the foundation and its
officers for their suppon. Alejandra Ahrensdorf, Daniel Gallagher, and John Shea
made available to me their expertise in various fields, and Eric Bunetti offered many
helpful suggestions on ponions of the translation. In maneuvering through the thicket
of scholarship on Bayle, I was aided by Kenneth Weinstein's doctoral dissertation, a
copy of which he very kindly supplied me.
RCB
..
VII

OUTLINE
I. lntroduaion: §§ 1-8
II. Reasons Against the Presages of Comets: §§9-1 01
.
First Reason: §§ 9-15
1.
..
Second Reason: § 16
11.
•••
Third Reason: §§17-22
Ill.
.
Fourth Reason: §23
IV.
v. Fifth Reason: §§24-44
.
Sixth Reason: §§45-56
VI.
vii. Seventh Reason: §§57-78
viii. Eighth Reason: §§79-101
III. Objections to the Seventh Reason: §§ 102-238
.
First Objection: § 102
1.
1. First Response: § 103
2. Second Response: §§104-5
3. Third Response: §§106--13
4. Fourth Response: § 114
A.
First Proof: § 115
B.
Second Proof: § 116
c.
Third Proof: §117
D. Fourth Proof: § 118
E.
Fifth Proof. §§ 119-21
E Sixth Proof. §§122-32
G. Seventh Proof: §§133-38
a. First Proof: § 139
b. Second Proof: §§ 140-41
c. Third Proof. §§ 142--46
d. Fourth Proof: §147
e. Fifth Proof: § 148
f. Sixth Proof. §§149-57
g. Seventh Proof. §§ 158-93
5. Fifth Response: §§194-202
..
Second Objection: §203
11.
1. First Response: §§204-16
2. Second Response: §§217- 18
3. Third Response: §§219-25
4. Fourth Response: §§226-27
...
Third Objection: §228
111.
1. Response: §§229-38
IY. Remarks: §§239-61
v.
Conclusion to and Abridgment of the Whole Work: §§262-63
.
IX