Pierre Charron | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1541 Paris, France |
| Died | 16 November 1603(1603-11-16) (aged 61–62) Paris, France |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Renaissance philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Scepticism |
Pierre Charron (French pronunciation:[pjɛʁʃaʁɔ̃]; 1541 – 16 November 1603) was a FrenchCatholic theologian and major contributor to the new thought of the 17th century. He is remembered for his controversial form ofskepticism and his separation ofethics from religion as an independentphilosophical discipline.
Pierre Charron was born inParis, one of the twenty-five children of a bookseller. After studyinglaw atOrléans andBourges he practiced as an advocate, for a few years.[1] He then entered the church and soon became a popular priest, rising to become a canon.
He moved to the southwest of France, invited byArnaud de Pontac,Bishop of Bazas.[2] He was appointed priest in ordinary toMarguerite de Valois, wife ofHenry IV of Navarre. In about 1588, Charron decided to become a monk, but being rejected by both theCarthusians and theCelestines, he returned to his old profession. He delivered a course of sermons atAngers, and in the next year moved toBordeaux, where he formed a famous friendship withMichel de Montaigne. On Montaigne's death, in 1592, Charron was requested in the will to bear the Montaigne arms.[3]
From 1594, he used his own name; he spent from 1594 to 1600 under the protection ofAntoine Hérbrard de Saint-Sulpice,[2]Bishop of Cahors, who appointed him grand vicar and theological canon. His first book led to his being chosen deputy to thegeneral assembly of the clergy, for which he became chief secretary.
Charron retired toCondom in 1600; he died suddenly of a stroke; his works were then receiving attention.[4][5]
Charron first published his works anonymously. Later he wrote under the name of "Benoit Vaillant, Advocate of the Holy Faith." While Charron's reading of Montaigne is now considered dogmatic and indeed something of a distortion, it was important in its time and during the 17th century as a whole.[6]
In 1594, he published a long work,Les Trois Vérités, in which Charron sought to prove that there is aGod and a true religion, that the true religion isChristianity, and that the true church isRoman Catholicism. It was a response to theProtestant workLe Traité de l'Eglise, byPhilippe de Mornay. In the second edition (1595), there is an elaborate reply to criticisms of the thirdVérité by a Protestant writer.Les Trois Vérités ran through several editions.
Then followed, in 1600,Discours chretiens, a book of sermons with a similar tone, half of which is about theEucharist[citation needed].
In 1601, Charron published inBordeaux his third work,De la sagesse, a system ofmoral philosophy that develops ideas ofMontaigne.[7] Charron also connected Montaigne'sscepticism with the anti-rational strand in Christianity.[4] It received the support ofHenry IV and of magistratePierre Jeannin. A second revised edition appeared in 1603, supported byClaude Dormy, the secondBishop of Boulogne.[4]
De la sagesse also was attacked, in particular by theJesuitFrançois Garasse (1585–1631), who described Charron as anatheist.
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A summary and defence of the book, written shortly before his death, appeared in 1606. In 1604, Charron's friendMichel de la Roche prefixed a "Life" to an edition ofDe la sagesse, which depicts Charron as an amiable man of good character. His complete works, with this contribution by de la Roche, were published in 1635. An abridgment of theSagesse is given inWilhelm Gottlieb Tennemann'sPhilosophie, vol. ix. An edition with notes by A. Duval appeared in 1820. It was translated into English asOf Wisdome (1612) bySamson Lennard;[8] and again byGeorge Stanhope (1697).[9]
Apart from the major influence of Montaigne, Charron took fromRaymond of Sabunde (Sibiuda).[10] Another influence wasneostoicism, as handled byJustus Lipsius.[11]
According to Charron, thesoul, located in theventricles of thebrain, is affected by the temperament of the individual; the dry temperament produces acute intelligence; the moist, memory; the hot, imagination. Dividing the intelligent soul into these three faculties, he writes the branches of science corresponding with each. On the nature of the soul, he quotes opinions. The belief in itsimmortality, he says, is the most universal of beliefs, but the most feebly supported by reason. As to a human's power of attaining truth, he declares that none of our faculties enable us to distinguish truth from error. In comparing humans with animals, Charron insists that there are no breaks in nature. Though inferior in some respects, in others, animals are superior. Namely, humanity's essential qualities are vanity, weakness, inconstancy, and presumption.
Charron writes that all religions teach that God is to be appeased by prayers, presents, vows, but especially, and, most irrationally, by human suffering[citation needed]. Each religion is said by its devotees to have commenced bydivine inspiration. A human is aChristian,Jew, orMuslim, before he or she knows that they are persons. Furthermore, he writes that one religion is built upon another.
While Charron declares religion to be "strange to common sense," the practical result at which he arrives is that one is not to sit in judgment on his or her faith, but to be "simple and obedient," and to submit to public authority[citation needed]. He writes that this is one rule of wisdom with regard to religion. Another equally important is to avoidsuperstition, which he defines as the belief that God is like a hard judge who, eager to find fault, narrowly examines our slightest act, that he is vengeful and hard to appease, and that, therefore, he must be flattered and won over by pain and sacrifice.
Charron states that truepiety, which is the first of duties, is the knowledge of God and of one's self; the latter knowledge being necessary to the former. The belief that what God sends is all good, and that all the bad is from ourselves is the abasing of humanity and the exalting of God. It leads to spiritual worship, for external ceremony is merely for our advantage, not for his glory.
Charron declares the sovereign to be the source of law, and asserts that popular freedom is dangerous.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Charron, Pierre".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 948–949.
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