Pierre Charron 1541 – 1603
Pierre Charron was a French Catholic priest, preacher, and philosopher and the principal successor of Montaigne in the late Renaissance tradition of Christian skepticism. After many years as a celebrated preacher, he was admitted in late life to Montaigne's intimate circle and, after his friend's death, drew on the Essays in the composition of his own Of Wisdom, published in 1601. The book systematized Montaignean skepticism into a Christian Stoic ethic of self-knowledge, freedom of judgment, and natural piety, distinguishing morality from religion in ways that scandalized contemporaries and shaped the libertine erudite movement of the seventeenth century.
Key facts
- Nationality
- French
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Skepticism, Renaissance
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Pierre Charron:
“Self-knowledge is the foundation of all wisdom.”
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Attributed to Pierre Charron:
“True wisdom is to live according to nature and reason, not custom.”
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Attributed to Pierre Charron:
“The wise person preserves the freedom of judgment in all things.”
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Attributed to Pierre Charron:
“Religion and morality are distinct: the just person of any creed is a true person.”
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Attributed to Pierre Charron:
“Doubt rightly held is the sister of certainty.”