David Gorlaeus (1591-1612): An Enigmatic Figure in the History of Philosophy and Science(History of Science and Scholarship in the Netherlands)

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 Luthy is professor of the history of philosophy and science at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. This title is available in the OAPEN Library - http://www.oapen.org.

Table of Contents:
David Gorlaes (1591-1612) - 2 Table of Contents - 6 Preface - 8 Chapter 1 Introducing Gorlaeus - 12 Chapter 2 Gorlaeus' Two Treatises - 26 Chapter 3 Gorlaeus' Life - 62 Chapter 4 Gorlaeus' Place in the History of Seventeenth-Century Thought - 134 Notes - 164 Bibliography - 196 Index - 218

About the Author :
Christoph Luthy is professor of the history of philosophy and science at Radboud University Nijmegen, in the Netherlands.

Review :
2012 was vooral een heel behoorlijk biografieenjaar [...] Intrigerend was Christoph Luthy's boek over de vroeg gestorven filosoof David Gorlaeus.-- Rob Hartmans de Groene Amsterdammer, 27-12-2012. - "Ondanks het gebrek aan kennis over de persoon Gorlaeus is een biografie op zijn plaats -en niet enkel omdat het vier eeuwen geleden is dat Gorlaeus overleed. Alleen al een gedegen uitleg van Gorlaeus' ideeen, door Luthy helder uiteengezet, is de moeite waard." -- NWT Magazine, 31-12-2012 - "Gorlaeus (1591-1612) kwam rond 1611 als theologiestudent in Leiden midden in de zogenoemde Bestandstwisten terecht: theologen vlogen elkaar in de haren over de leer van de voorbestemming van de menselijke ziel. [...] Met veel bravoure stortte Gorlaeus zich als jongeling in deze complexe discussie. Hij publiceerde twee boeken, 'Exercitationes philosophicae' en 'Idea physicae', waarin hij betoogde dat alles in het universum bestond uit ondeelbare deeltjes, 'atomen'. [...] Ook God was volgens Gorlaeus een (spiritueel) atoom; groot maar begrensd [...] (waarmee, red.) Gorlaeus God terugbracht tot relatief bescheiden proporties. Zo ontstond ruimte voor de mens om de toekomst van zijn ziel te beinvloeden. Maar er viel meer te lezen in Gorlaeus' werk. Tijdgenoten vatten het ook op als kritiek op de klassieke leer van Aristoteles. [...] De afbraak van het 'monopolie' van Aristoteles was een belangrijke stap in de ontwikkeling van de natuurwetenschappen. [...] Daar heeft Gorlaeus aan bijgedragen, zo laat zijn biograaf Luthy zien. Veel belangrijke denkers uit de 17de eeuw lazen zijn werk. Helaas heeft Gorlaeus dat zelf niet meegekregen, want hij stierf al op zijn 21ste." -- Geertje Dekker (Volkskrant, 27-4-2012). - "Christoph Luthy is the first to tell the complete story of David Gorlaeus and to reconstruct his image on the basis of all remaining sources. Showing in a convincing way that Gorlaeus is one of the key figures in the renewal of atomistic philosophy in the 17th century and a major influence on many philosophers that are much better known, he leaves us with the melancholy picture of someone who died too young (barely 21 years old!) to become one of the heroes of the scientific revolution. A fascinating story of a brilliant philosopher." - Theo Verbeek (Utrecht University). - "Until now, David Gorlaeus has just been an empty name, associated with two oft-cited but rarely read books and a list of other "innovators," anti-Aristotelian thinkers who flourished in the early modern period. Christoph Luthy has taken the challenge, and found out who this man of mystery was. In this remarkable book, Luthy puts Gorlaeus firmly into the Dutch intellectual context of the early seventeenth century and paints a vivid picture of one of the forgotten figures of an age when our view of the world was transformed. For the first time in almost 400 years we can truly appreciate this largely unknown but deeply original thinker, and look into his mind and his life." -- Daniel Garber, Princeton University