This book is the first systematic account of Pierre Charron s influence among the major French philosophers in the period (1601-1662). It shows that Charron s Wisdom was one of the main sources of inspiration of Pierre Gassendi s first published book, the Exercitationes adversus aristoteleos. It sheds new light on La Mothe Le Vayer, who is usually viewed as a major free thinker. By showing that he was a follower of Charron, La Mothe emerges neither as a skeptical apologist nor as a disguised libertine, as combatting superstition but not as irreligious. The book shows the...