Pierre Gassendi
A French priest, scientist and scholar who tried to bring Epicurus’s atomism back into serious discussion without giving up his faith.
1 min read · Updated 11 November 2026 · Last checked 11 November 2026
Life and work #
Pierre Gassendi was a French priest and philosopher, an observer of the heavens and an experimenter, and a member of the circle around Marin Mersenne. Early in his career he took an interest in restoring the philosophy of Epicurus, much as Aquinas had restored Aristotle, by fitting it to Christian belief.1
In 1649 he published a Latin translation of Diogenes Laertius, Book X, which is the main ancient life of Epicurus, with a long commentary. His larger work on philosophy appeared after his death in 1655.2
His version of atomism influenced early modern science.3
What to be careful about #
Gassendi was not an Epicurean in the ancient sense. He held to the Church’s teaching, so what he offered was Epicurus adapted to it, not Epicurus as the Garden taught him. I have not tried to set out the details here.
On this site #
See also: Poggio Bracciolini, Epicurus.
Notes
- Saul Fisher, 'Pierre Gassendi', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ↩
- Fisher, 'Gassendi'. ↩
- Fisher, 'Gassendi'. ↩
Modern works cited
- Saul Fisher, 'Pierre Gassendi', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — read online
Cite this page. The Garden, ‘Pierre Gassendi’, https://camelmaps.org/garden/person.php, last updated 11 November 2026, last checked 11 November 2026. What has changed.