Review: “Delphine Bellis, Daniel Garber, and Carla Rita Palmerino (eds.), Pierre Gassendi: Humanism, Science, and the Birth of Modern Philosophy. London: Routledge, 2023.”

For many seventeenth-century philosophers, Pierre Gassendi was an author as great as René Descartes. But for many reasons, this is not something established for historians of philosophy today. Against this distortion, this book edited by Delphine Bellis, Daniel Garber, and Carla Rita Palmerino, having behind it the work of several scholars who paved the way, overtly reaffirms the relevance of Gassendi’s thought both in itself and for the philosophers of subsequent generations. Although not formally a companion to Gassendi, this well-organized volume is such de facto, and even something more than that. The collected contributions are a useful introduction to anyone who wants an overview of the main themes of his philosophy, but given their quality, the book will also be helpful to more specialized scholars. The editors have arranged a volume that brings together contributions from leading Gassendi specialists. Since this book provides a synopsis of the current state of research, and gathers together an almost exhaustive bibliography, manuscripts included, it will become an essential tool for anyone who is seriously interested in Gassendi and his context.