Pierre Bayle, the author of the monumental Historical and Critical Dictionary (1740), the “real arsenal of all the Enlightenment philosophers” (Cassirer 1951: 167), establishes himself as philosophe with an earlier book, first published in 1682, Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet (2000). This book was written following the appearance of a comet, held to be a divine presage of great misfortunes according to a widespread belief of the time. The event gave priests and theologians on all sides the opportunity for a lively discussion.

Various Thoughts was first published anonymously, as a series of letters written to a theologian of the Sorbonne (Bayle 2000: 3ff.). By disguising his identity, Bayle was able to put forward a sharp criticism of the beliefs in divine presages, using the language of theologians. Thus, for instance, as we read in the preface, he could claim that the merit of these spontaneous letters written to a friend was in the fact that their “unknown author is willing to use, against the presage of comets, the same weapons belonging to piety and religion that have been used until now in favour of these presages” (Bayle 2000: 5).

Through this cover, Bayle was able to put forward the most revolutionary statements, such as his famous argument in favour of a society of atheists. Through the typical escamotage of commenting on an event of the past, Bayle was also able to explain why he had to make recourse to all these precautions.