De l'athée vicieux à l'athée vertueux Genèse du démontage d'une idée toute faite

In the Pensées diverses sur la comète, Bayle was the first to put forward the idea of a society of atheists. His suggestion relies on an extended argument wherein he rehabilitates the notion that atheists can be virtuous. Many of his points had, however, already been put forward by other modern philosophers : Cardana, Vanini, La Mothe le Vayer or Hobbes. In this paper, I stress the presence of these thinkers within Bayle’s argumentation, and the originality of their positions.