This treatise on religious belief, once well known, has all but vanished. Thought to have been written in the 1720s by the historian and linguist Nicolas Fréret, its arguments against religion made a strong impact on later Enlightenment thinkers.
The book, originally titled Lettre de Thrasibule a Leucippe, is supposedly an ancient Greco-Roman document from one friend to another, offering guidance in protecting him from the temptation of religion through rational comparison of religious belief. During a walk through the history of religions, Thrasibule examines the nature of devotion and obedience to religious laws, warns of their dangers, and suggests a more likely worldview and ethics, one grounded in human nature and the observation of the universe.
This is an original English translation of an important text in the history of the French Enlightenment.
Pages
104
Format
Kindle Edition
A Safeguard against Religion: A Letter from Thrasybulus to Leucippus
This treatise on religious belief, once well known, has all but vanished. Thought to have been written in the 1720s by the historian and linguist Nicolas Fréret, its arguments against religion made a strong impact on later Enlightenment thinkers.
The book, originally titled Lettre de Thrasibule a Leucippe, is supposedly an ancient Greco-Roman document from one friend to another, offering guidance in protecting him from the temptation of religion through rational comparison of religious belief. During a walk through the history of religions, Thrasibule examines the nature of devotion and obedience to religious laws, warns of their dangers, and suggests a more likely worldview and ethics, one grounded in human nature and the observation of the universe.
This is an original English translation of an important text in the history of the French Enlightenment.