The General Histories of Philosophy in France and in Italy, 1650-1750

This volume is the second of a five-volume collective work originally published in Italy between 1974 and 2004. It describes the origin and evolution of the genre of the History of Philosophy, from the rejection of the “philosophical past” (emblematically expressed by Descartes, and above all by Malebranche) to the establishment of a “critical” history of philosophy, which investigates philosophy from its most ancient origins up to the contemporary age, thanks to the work of A.-F Boureau-Deslandes (1737) and J.J. Brucker (1742-1744). In the space of a century, therefore, the general history of philosophy becomes an autonomous genre, giving rise to numerous works and fulfilling an important role in pre-Enlightenment and Enlightenment culture. This increase in the number of works produced is accompanied by a notable refinement of the theoretical and methodological technique (a “philosophy of the history of philosophy”), marking the transition from an “erudite” historiography to a “critical” (Bayle) or “philosophical” (Heumann) history of philosophy. This historical and cultural process is examined by means of an analysis of 36 works which are either themselves general histories of philosophy, or, which (as in the case of Bayle’s "Dictionnaire") have strongly influenced the development of a genre which has become typical of modern philosophical literature.