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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.