The Logic of Idolatry in Seventeenth-Century French Literature

A sensitive investigation into how French writers, including Descartes and Racine, treated a central preoccupation in early modern writings. Idolatry was one of the dominant and most contentious themes of early modern religious polemics. This book argues that many of the best-known literary and philosophical works of the French seventeenth century were deeply engaged and concerned with the theme. In a series of case studies and close readings, it shows that authors used the logic of idolatry to