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Saturday, June 12, 2021

REASON WAS NEVER THE BOSS OF EMOTION

 "In theory, the philosophers stood for the toleration of all beliefs and the free expression of all ideas. In fact, however, the situation was less simple. The philosophers were by no means willing to allow liberty to their opponents, not even to those who were far from representing the formidable power of the church. Their method was not often the mild persuasion favored by liberals. They talked much of reason, but their sharpest instruments were ridicule and vilification, which enabled them to throw off a man's arguments by defaming his character or belittling his intelligence.  La Baumelle went to jail, thanks partly to Voltaire whose works he had ventured to criticize.  Freron, a conservative and Catholic journalist, was called by Voltaire, in a single work, a scribbler, scoundrel, toad, lizard, snake, spider, viper's tongue, crooked mind, heart of filth, doer of evil, rascal, impudent person, cowardly knave, spy, and hound. He found his journal gagged, his income halved and his career ruined by the concerted attacks of the philosophers.  To silence him, at least two of the philosophers, Marmontel and d' Alembert, appealed to the censors whose very existence the enlightened thinkers are supposed to have abhorred.  It is not possible, in short, to accept as characteristic of these thinkers the statement often attributed to Voltaire, that, though he disagreed with what a man said, he would fight to the death for his right to say it." Palmer, Catholics and Unbelievers, circa p 7. For Voltaire's intolerance, Palmer cites to the index under Voltaire's works (Paris 1883-1885), Chaumeix, Trublet, Larcher, Guenee, and especially Juifs. 

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