Abstract

Charles Sorel’s Science universelle is one of the most relevant examples of 17 th century encyclopedism. At the heart of the work is the reorganization of knowledge in its confrontation with the philosophy of the novatores, the heterogeneous group of authors united above all by the need to overcome Aristotelian philosophy. The use of the definition novatores within the philosophical production of the 17 th century has recently attracted the attention of several scholars. Particularly interesting in this regard is Sorel’s description of this category of philosophers in his work, most probably influenced by the philosophy of Tommaso Campanella, which the author came to know in France.