New Conversations

I do not know, I replied, whether one must become a Pyrrhonist original: Pyrrhonien — a follower of the ancient Greek school of skepticism that argued certain knowledge is impossible. as soon as one wishes to be a disciple of Descartes; but I perceive clearly that this disposition of mind he demands is perfectly suited to creating a Calvinist: by force of habituating oneself to believing only in oneself regarding natural things, and deferring nothing to the insights of others, one will develop the same presumption regarding divine things. The authority of the tradition of the Church Fathers and the Councils will be counted for very little.

All this beginning of Descartes' Metaphysics is quite naturally the precursor to the private spiritThe Protestant principle of individual interpretation of Scripture and faith, which the Catholic author here views as a dangerous rejection of Church authority. of Calvin: this is why all those among us who are suspected of favoring a good portion of the errors of that Innovator Referring to John Calvin, the Protestant Reformer. accommodate themselves well enough to this Philosophy; they take care to instill it imperceptibly and to substitute it for that of Aristotle.

"Those who favor Calvin," Jean le Brun replied, "might also favor our Philosophy for reasons that were objected to me during my travels; but as these are drawn from Physics, I shall satisfy them, with the help of God, by saying that God is all-powerful, and that..."