1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910141280003321

Autore

Luthy Christoph

Titolo

David Gorlaeus (1591-1612) : an enigmatic figure in the history of philosophy and science / / Christoph Luthy

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Amsterdam, : Amsterdam University Press, 2012

Amsterdam : , : Amsterdam University Press, , [2012]

©2013

ISBN

9781283698382

1283698382

9789048516803

9048516803

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (225 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

History of science and scholarship in the Netherlands (HSSN)

Disciplina

530.092

Soggetti

Philosophers - Netherlands

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Jan 2021).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Table Of Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Introducing Gorlæus -- Chapter 2. Gorlæus' Two Treatises -- Chapter 3. Gorlæus' Life -- Chapter 4. Gorlæus' Place In The History Of Seventeenth-Century Thought -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

When David Gorlaeus (1591-1612) passed away at 21 years of age, he left behind two highly innovative manuscripts. Once they were published, his work had a remarkable impact on the evolution of seventeenth-century thought. However, as his identity was unknown, divergent interpretations of their meaning quickly sprang up. Seventeenth-century readers understood him as an anti-Aristotelian thinker and as a precursor of Descartes. Twentieth-century historians depicted him as an atomist, natural scientist and even as a chemist. And yet, when Gorlaeus died, he was a beginning student in theology. His thought must in fact be placed at the intersection between philosophy, the nascent natural sciences, and theology. The aim of this book is to shed light on Gorlaeus' family circumstances, his education at Franeker and Leiden, and on the virulent Arminian crisis which provided the context within which his work was written. It also



attempts to define Gorlaeus' place in the history of Dutch philosophy and to assess the influence that it exercised in the evolution of philosophy and science, and notably in early Cartesian circles. Christoph Lu̘thy is professor of the history of philosophy and science at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.