The Early Modern Epicurean Revival and the History of Relativism

This article surveys the history of relativism in the years from 1640 to 1710, connecting it to the revival of Epicurean thought in France and Britain. During these decades, a Christianized Epicureanism, elaborated by Pierre Gassendi and divulged by French and British sympathizers, coexisted with a libertine Epicureanism carrying Cyrenaic and naturalist overtones. Both fostered the development of relativist theses. Philosophers and imaginative authors responsible for the Epicurean revival—from Gassendi and the Earl of Rochester to Madame Deshoulières and Margaret Cavendish—derived relativistic conclusions from the Epicurean theory of justice to Epicurus’ hedonism, atomic theory, and sensationalist epistemology. They often brought relativism under control by recommending conformity to local norms, but some took Epicurean relativism in a reformist direction, making cases against homophobia, anthropocentrism, social inequality, and religious persecution. This phase in the history of relativism accordingly anticipates the popularization and politicization of heterodox ideas usually associated with the Enlightenment.