Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Introduction: The Birth of Positive Atheism 1
4. 1. Bayle and Virtuous Atheism 29
5. 2. Meslier the First Atheist 63
6. 3. D’Holbach’s Systematic Materialist Ontology 96
7. 4. Diderot the Metatheist 150
8. 5. The State of Atheism in France, 1789 188
9. Bibliography 210
10. Index 225