INTRODUCTION Invited editor: Filip BUYSE Although the habit of letter writing is gradually disappearing today, “writing a message that is written down or printed on paper and usually put in an envelope and sent to somebody” flourished during the seventeenth century.1 In this special issue we concentrate on some of these letters. In particular, we […]
Category: Vol. 7 no. 2
Macaria, the hartlib circle, and husbanding creation
Macaria, the hartlib circle, and husbanding creation Oana MATEI Abstract. This paper attempts to interpret one of the rarely read seventeenth-century atypical utopias, A Description of the Famous Kingdome of Macaria. Macaria originated inside the Hartlib Circle, was anonymously published and, for a long time, was considered a work by Samuel Hartlib. Classified as an […]
Boyle, Spionza and The Hartlib circle: The correspondence which never took place
Boyle, Spionza and The Hartlib circle: The correspondence which never took place Filip BUYSE Abstract. There is a bundle of texts that have become known as the Boyle/Spinoza correspondence, yet Boyle and Spinoza never directly communicated. How did this so-called correspondence start? Why did Boyle invite the philosopher Spinoza to comment on his scientific experiments? […]
Robert Boyle, baconian science, and the rise of chemistry in the seventeenth century
Robert Boyle, baconian science, and the rise of chemistry in the seventeenth century Thomas SUKOPP Abstract. This paper aims to achieve a better understanding of Robert Boyle as one of the main figures in seventeenth century chemistry. Focusing on his correspondence, we try to analyse the following complex and still not sufficiently understood contexts: a) […]
The curious case of the vermiculus. Some remarks on spinoza’s letter 32 and spinoza’s views on imagination and reason
The curious case of the vermiculus. Some remarks on spinoza’s letter 32 and spinoza’s views on imagination and reason Ilaria GASPARI Abstract. Moving from an example created by Spinoza in letter 32 to Oldenburg (that of a little worm living in the blood in full unawareness of the constrictive tightness of its environment), the […]
The development of the concept of prudentia in locke’s classifications of knowledge
The development of the concept of prudentia in locke’s classifications of knowledge Giuliana Di BIASE Abstract. During the seventeenth century, the concept of prudence underwent a process of radical transformation: its status as an intellectual virtue, seeking to apply right reason to the enactment of means to morally appropriate ends, had already become problematic during […]
Descartes on physical vacuum: rationalism in natural-philosophical debate
Descartes on physical vacuum: rationalism in natural-philosophical debate Joseph ZEPEDA Abstract. Descartes is notorious for holding a strong anti-vacuist position. On his view, according to the standard reading, empty space not only does not exist in nature, but it is logically impossible. The very notion of a void or vacuum is an incoherent one. Recently […]
Public and private objections to the cartesian thesis of mind-body union: the divergent replies in descartes’ letters
Public and private objections to the cartesian thesis of mind-body union: the divergent replies in descartes’ letters Isabelle WIENAND, Olivier RIBORDY Abstract. The Latin edition of the Meditationes (1641) was followed by Sets of Objections and by Descartes’ Sets of Replies. One of the recurring objections concerned the Cartesian claim which states that mind and […]
A spiritual automaton: spinoza, reason, and the letters to blyenbergh
A spiritual automaton: spinoza, reason, and the letters to blyenbergh Daniel SCHNEIDER Abstract. This paper examines a disagreement over epistemic “first principles” that takes place in the correspondence between Spinoza and Blyenbergh. Blyenbergh, following Descartes, states he will doubt that which is clearly and distinctly understood if it conflicts with Scripture. Spinoza, in turn, acquiesces […]
Fictional letters or real accusations? Anonymous correspondence in the bayle-jurieu controversy
Fictional letters or real accusations? Anonymous correspondence in the bayle-jurieu controversy Anton MATYTSIN Abstract. This article describes the polemical debate that took place between Huguenot refugees Pierre Jurieu and Pierre Bayle following the publication of Bayle’s notorious Dictionnaire historique et critique (1697). It focuses specifically on the volume of letters from anonymous readers published by […]