Curious, Useful and Important: Bayle’s ‘Hermaphrodites’ as Figures of Theological Inquiry
This essay examines Pierre Bayle’s use of the hermaphrodite figure in his Dictionnaire. Bayle repeatedly connects the hermaphrodite to mythic tales and language, rather than engaging ‘real’ accounts of intersexed persons. Bayle’s hermaphrodite functions as an entry point into theological discussions of sin and leads his readers across articles considering a hermaphroditic first man (‘Adam’) and the potential for humans unmarred by sin (‘Sadeur’). The hermaphrodite is employed as a sceptical figure to aid in raising questions and becomes part of a larger Baylean challenge to a dogmatic and rigid theology of the age. Bayle’s hermaphrodite articles and the questions of human nature he raises within them demonstrate how discussions of exceptional bodies contribute to ongoing theological debates in the early modern period.