The early Enlightenment in the Dutch Republic, 1650-1750

This book contains twelve essays by prominent historians from the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States on the early Enlightenment in the Dutch Republic. In the wake of the increased awareness of the importance of this particular period for the European Enlightenment as a whole, they focus on Cartesianism, Spinozism and Empiricism, the three main schools of thought that made up its philosophical profile. The first part of the book highlights the academic infrastructure of the Dutch Republic and the theological response to the Radical Enlightenment.