PHILOSOPHER

Pierre Gassendi

1592 - 1655

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Pierre Gassendi (French: [pjɛʁ gasɛ̃di]; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi, Petrus Gassendus; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris, where he was a leader of a group of free-thinking intellectuals. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the first data on the transit of Mercury in 1631. The lunar crater Gassendi is named after him. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Pierre Gassendi is the 190th most popular philosopher (up from 191st in 2019), the 431st most popular biography from France (down from 425th in 2019) and the 22nd most popular French Philosopher.

Gassendi is most famous for his atomism. He argued that atoms are the fundamental building blocks of matter and that they are indivisible. He also argued that atoms are not eternal and that they can be created and destroyed.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Pierre Gassendi ranks 190 out of 1,267. Before him are Claude Adrien Helvétius, Jean Baudrillard, Sextus Empiricus, José Ortega y Gasset, Bernard Bolzano, and Gemistus Pletho. After him are Pierre Bayle, Kabir, Apollonius of Tyana, Ernest Renan, Nicolas Malebranche, and John Rawls.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1592, Pierre Gassendi ranks 4. Before him are John Amos Comenius, Hong Taiji, and Shah Jahan. After him are Wilhelm Schickard, Gerard van Honthorst, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, Jacques Callot, Peter Snayers, Gustav Horn, Count of Pori, Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Catalina de Erauso. Among people deceased in 1655, Pierre Gassendi ranks 3. Before him are Pope Innocent X, and Cyrano de Bergerac. After him are Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, Eleonora Gonzaga, Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal, Ukita Hideie, Cristóbal de Morales, Janusz Radziwiłł, Cornelis Schut, Eustache Le Sueur, and Francesco Molin.

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In France

Among people born in France, Pierre Gassendi ranks 431 out of 6,770. Before him are Francis Poulenc (1899), Fernandel (1903), Girard Desargues (1591), André Derain (1880), Jeanne Moreau (1928), and Antoine of Navarre (1518). After him are Pierre Bayle (1647), Arthur Honegger (1892), Isabella of France (1295), Giambologna (1529), Pierre Beaumarchais (1732), and Aristide Briand (1862).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In France

Among philosophers born in France, Pierre Gassendi ranks 22. Before him are Marquis de Condorcet (1743), Jean Buridan (1295), Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908), Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715), and Jean Baudrillard (1929). After him are Pierre Bayle (1647), Ernest Renan (1823), Nicolas Malebranche (1638), Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714), Jean-François Lyotard (1924), and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881).

French born Philosophers

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