|
|
Article: Gassendi, Pierre (1592–1655)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
GASSENDI, PIERRE (1592
–
1655)
GASSENDI, PIERRE
(1592
–
1655), French Catholic priest and philosopher. Born in Provence on 22 January 1592, Gassendi was admitted to the clerical state in 1604 and received his doctor of theology degree at the University of Avignon in 1614. He studied philosophy and theology at the college of Aix-en-Provence, where he later taught from 1616 to 1622. He published his first book,
Exercitationes Paradoxicae adversus Aristoteleos,
in 1624, a work in which he criticized Aristotelianism by using the skeptical arguments of the ancient philosopher Sextus Empiricus (fl. c. 200 C.E.). Having rejected Aristotelianism, Gassendi undertook the task of ...