Materialisti, panpsichisti e cartesiani nel labirinto bayliano

Some scholars continue to classify Bayle as a ‘Cartesian’, particularly with regard to the essential distinction between res cogitans and res extensa. Indeed, the Dictionnaire historique et critique repeatedly argues against the idea that thought could emerge from certain arrangements of matter. Following Bayle's intricate discussions of «animated» atomism, «animal machines», «genies» and the conception of matter, this article shows that the «Philosopher of Rotterdam» is far from unreservedly accepting mind-body dualism. With regard to the philosophy of nature, Bayle remains convinced that no system «hits the target» and that «the difference between sects is only a matter of some probability more or less».