“THAT in order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life to doubt, as far as possible, of all things.”

Rene Descartes – 1644.[1]

           Should the Bible be taken literally? How can happiness be defined? Do monarchies care about their subjects or have their societies best interests at heart? Is it possible to educate the masses? Are all men really created equal? There is a common spirit within these questions posed and that spirit’s name is skepticism. It might be said that skepticism breeds creative questioning, and from this questioning springs philosophical debates. When these debates are pursued profound ideas arise and these ideas, with enough attention, can change the trajectory of a mind, a life, a society, and even a world. What most people call the Enlightenment Era is a perfect example of the power of skepticism. Skepticism in this sense invokes a definition that harbors around free-thinking, suspicion, curiosity, but it does not need to connotate negativity. On the contrary, skepticism plays an imperative role in a plethora of potentially positive outcomes, including during the American and European enlightenments of the eighteenth century. However, as historians have analyzed and consumed all facets of these enlightenments they have discovered their own skepticism about the origins, foundations, intentions, and legacies of the many intellectual, artistic, religious, and philosophical individuals who lived through the cross-Atlantic enlightenments. Three such historians are Caroline Winterer, Jonathan Israel, and Garry Wills. All have made credible and provocative contributions to the historiography of the Enlightenment Era, while proving that skepticism was relevant then, and in response to common misconceptions of enlightenment theories, skepticism should still be relevant to today’s historians and scholars. This essay will introduce the three works from first to most recently published and then demonstrate how they can be woven together to explain the great holes within and complexity of Enlightenment Era historiography.

[1] J. F. Scott, The Scientific Work of René Descartes: 1596-1650. René Descartes (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2017), 158