Translating the New Philosophy in the Dutch Early Enlightenment (1640-1720) (pdf)

A small group of freethinkers from the Dutch Republic played a key role in the major intellectual changes of the Early Enlightenment (1640–1720). In the wake of Cartesianism, their rationalist ideas transformed debates about science, theology, medicine, and political theory. This book studies the position of four translators in these debates on the ‘New Philosophy’: Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker, Pieter Balling, Abraham van Berkel, and Stephan Blankaart. It presents a comparative history of their Dutch translations of philosophical treatises by René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, and Benedictus de Spinoza.