Pierre Bayle and the reflection on the image of the virtuous atheist in modernity

Abstract

Circumscribing the scope in which atheism can be understood, namely, in the sphere of customs, religious, political and theological conventions, and even in the field of temperaments and characters, from Pensées diverses sur la comète to Continuation des Pensées sur la comète, and the Réponse aux quéstions d'un Provincial Bayle erects, substantiates and radicalizes the link between atheism and virtue, understanding here atheism under a practical approach, that is, in relation to the attitude of those who live as if a god did not exist, minimizing the value of its effectiveness over human conduct. However, such a position is no less endowed with virtue, once such a term is understood as a perpetual disposition to perform certain moral acts and having as purpose the acts of practical life, such as justice, honesty, courage, friendship, among others.