Routledge History of Philosophy
Volume IV
The philosophy discussed in this volume covers a period of three hundred and fifty
years, from the middle of the fourteenth century to the early years of the
eighteenth century: the birth of modern philosophy. The chief topics are
Renaissance philosophy and seventeenth-century rationalism—in particular
Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. The volume does not deal with these
movements exclusively, but places them within a wider intellectual context. It
considers the scholastic thought with which Renaissance philosophy interacted;
it also considers the thought of seventeenth-century philosophers such as Bacon,
Hobbes and Gassendi, who were not rationalists but whose thought elicited
responses from the rationalists. It considers, too, the important topic of the rise of
modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and its relations to the
philosophy of the period.
This volume provides a broad, scholarly introduction to this period for
students of philosophy and related disciplines, as well as some original
interpretations of these authors. It includes a glossary of technical terms and a
chronological table of philosophical, scientific and other cultural events.
G.H.R.Parkinson is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading.
His numerous books include works on Spinoza, Leibniz, Wittgenstein and
Lukács; he is also the General Editor of An Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
(Routledge, 1988).
Routledge History of Philosophy
General editors—G.H.R.Parkinson and S.G.Shanker
The Routledge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey of the
history of Western philosophy, from its beginnings in the sixth century BC to the
present time. It discusses all major philosophical developments in depth. Most
space is allocated to those individuals who, by common consent, are regarded as
great philosophers. But lesser figures have not been neglected, and together the
ten volumes of the History include basic and critical information about every
significant philosopher of the past and present. These philosophers are clearly
situated within the cultural and, in particular, the scientific context of their time.
The History is intended not only for the specialist, but also for the student and
the general reader. Each chapter is by an acknowledged authority in the field.
The chapters are written in an accessible style and a glossary of technical terms
is provided in each volume.
Routledge History of Philosophy
Volume IV
The Renaissance and
Seventeenth-century
Rationalism
EDITED BY
G.H.R.Parkinson
London and New York
First published 1993
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 1993 G.H.R.Parkinson and individual contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by
any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Routledge History of Philosophy.—Vol. 4:
Renaissance and Seventeenth-century
Rationalism
I. Parkinson, G.H.R.
190.9
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The Renaissance and seventeenth-century rationalism/edited by G.H.R.
Parkinson.
p. cm. —(Routledge history of philosophy; v. 4)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents: The philosophy of the Italian Renaissance/Jill Kraye—Renaissance
philosophy outside Italy/Stuart Brown—Science and mathematics from the
Renaissance to Descartes/George Molland—Francis Bacon and man’s two-faced
kingdom/Antonio Pérez-Ramos—Descartes, methodology/Stephen Gaukroger
—Descartes, metaphysics and philosophy of mind/John Cottingham—
Seventeenth century materialism/T.Sorell—Spinoza, metaphysics and
knowledge/G.H.R.Parkinson—The moral and political philosophy of
Spinoza/Hans W.Blom—Occasionalism/Daisie Radner—Leibniz/Nicholas
Jolley.
v
1. Philosophy, Renaissance. 2. Philosophy, Modern-17th century.
I. Parkinson, G.H.R. (George Henry Radcliffe) II. Title:
Renaissance and 17th century rationalism. III. Series.
B770.R38 1993
190′.9′031–dc20
92–37350
ISBN 0-203-02914-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-05819-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-05378-1 (Print Edition)
Contents
General editors’ preface
Notes on contributors
Chronology
Introduction
G.H.R.Parkinson
viii
x
xii
1
1
The philosophy of the Italian Renaissance
Jill Kraye
15
2
Renaissance philosophy outside Italy
Stuart Brown
65
3
Science and mathematics from the Renaissance to Descartes
George Molland
97
4
Francis Bacon and man’s two-faced kingdom
Antonio Pérez-Ramos
130
5
Descartes: methodology
Stephen Gaukroger
156
6
Descartes: metaphysics and the philosophy of mind
John Cottingham
187
7
Seventeenth-century materialism: Gassendi and Hobbes
T.Sorell
219
8
Spinoza: metaphysics and knowledge
G.H.R.Parkinson
253
9
The moral and political philosophy of Spinoza
Hans W.Blom
288
10
Occasionalism
Daisie Radner
320
11
Leibniz: truth, knowledge and metaphysics
Nicholas Jolley
353
vii
Glossary
389
Index of names
407
Index of subjects
411
General editors’ preface
The history of philosophy, as its name implies, represents a union of two very
different disciplines, each of which imposes severe constraints upon the other.
As an exercise in the history of ideas, it demands that one acquire a ‘period eye’:
a thorough understanding of how the thinkers whom it studies viewed the
problems which they sought to resolve, the conceptual frameworks in which they
addressed these issues, their assumptions and objectives, their blind spots and
miscues. But as an exercise in philosophy, we are engaged in much more than
simply a descriptive task. There is a crucial critical aspect to our efforts: we are
looking for the cogency as much as the development of an argument, for its
bearing on questions which continue to preoccupy us as much as the impact
which it may have had on the evolution of philosophical thought.
The history of philosophy thus requires a delicate balancing act from its
practitioners. We read these writings with the full benefit of historical hindsight.
We can see why the minor contributions remained minor and where the grand
systems broke down: sometimes as a result of internal pressures, sometimes
because of a failure to overcome an insuperable obstacle, sometimes because of a
dramatic technological or sociological change and, quite often, because of
nothing more than a shift in intellectual fashion or interests. Yet, because of our
continuing philosophical concern with many of the same problems, we cannot
afford to look dispassionately at these works. We want to know what lessons are
to be learnt from the inconsequential or the glorious failures; many times we
want to plead for a contemporary relevance in the overlooked theory or to
reconsider whether the ‘glorious failure’ was indeed such or simply ahead of its
time: perhaps even ahead of its author.
We find ourselves, therefore, much like the mythical ‘radical translator’ who
has so fascinated modern philosophers, trying to understand an author’s ideas in
his and his culture’s eyes, and at the same time, in our own. It can be a
formidable task. Many times we fail in the historical undertaking because our
philosophical interests are so strong, or lose sight of the latter because we are so
enthralled by the former. But the nature of philosophy is such that we are
compelled to master both techniques. For learning about the history of
philosophy is not just a challenging and engaging pastime: it is an essential
ix
element in learning about the nature of philosophy—in grasping how philosophy
is intimately connected with and yet distinct from both history and science.
The Routledge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey of the
history of Western philosophy, from its beginnings up to the present time. Its aim
is to discuss all major philosophical developments in depth, and with this in
mind, most space has been allocated to those individuals who, by common
consent, are regarded as great philosophers. But lesser figures have not been
neglected, and it is hoped that the reader will be able to find, in the ten volumes
of the History, at least basic information about any significant philosopher of the
past or present.
Philosophical thinking does not occur in isolation from other human activities,
and this History tries to situate philosophers within the cultural, and in particular
the scientific, context of their time. Some philosophers, indeed, would regard
philosophy as merely ancillary to the natural sciences; but even if this view is
rejected, it can hardly be denied that the sciences have had a great influence on
what is now regarded as philosophy, and it is important that this influence should
be set forth clearly. Not that these volumes are intended to provide a mere record
of the factors that influenced philosophical thinking; philosophy is a discipline
with its own standards of argument, and the presentation of the ways in which
these arguments have developed is the main concern of this History.
In speaking of ‘what is now regarded as philosophy’, we may have given the
impression that there now exists a single view of what philosophy is. This is
certainly not the case; on the contrary, there exist serious differences of opinion,
among those who call themselves philosophers, about the nature of their subject.
These differences are reflected in the existence at the present time of two main
schools of thought, usually described as ‘analytic’ and ‘continental’ philosophy.
It is not our intention, as general editors of this History, to take sides in this
dispute. Our attitude is one of tolerance, and our hope is that these volumes will
contribute to an understanding of how philosophers have reached the positions
which they now occupy.
One final comment. Philosophy has long been a highly technical subject, with
its own specialized vocabulary. This History is intended not only for the
specialist but also for the general reader. To this end, we have tried to ensure that
each chapter is written in an accessible style; and since technicalities are
unavoidable, a glossary of technical terms is provided in each volume. In this
way these volumes will, we hope, contribute to a wider understanding of a
subject which is of the highest importance to all thinking people.
G.H.R.Parkinson
S.G.Shanker
Notes on contributors
G.H.R.Parkinson is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of
Reading. His publications include Spinoza’s Theory of Knowledge (1954),
Logic and Reality in Leibniz’s Metaphysics (1965) Georg Lukács (1977) and
(as editor) Leibniz: Logical Papers (1966), The Theory of Meaning (1968),
Leibniz: Philosophical Writings (1973) and The Routledge Encyclopaedia of
Philosophy (1988).
Jill Kraye is Lecturer in the History of Philosophy at the Warburg Institute,
University of London. She is Associate Editor of The Cambridge History of
Renaissance Philosophy (1988) and editor of The Cambridge Companion to
Renaissance Humanism (forthcoming).
Stuart Brown is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at
the Open University. He has edited several volumes of philosophical papers,
including Reason and Religion (1977), Philosophical Disputes in the Social
Sciences (1979), Philosophers of the Enlightenment (1979), Objectivity and
Cultural Divergence (1984) and Nicolas Malebranche: His Philosophical
Critics and Successors (1991), and he is the author of Leibniz (1984) in the
‘Philosophers in Perspective’ series.
George Molland is Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at
the University of Aberdeen; he is the author of several articles on medieval
and early modern science and mathematics.
Antonio Pérez-Ramos teaches philosophy at the University of Murcia, He is
the author of Francis Bacon’s Idea of Science and the Maker’s Knowledge
Tradition (1988).
Stephen Gaukroger is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He
is author of Explanatory Structures: Concepts of Explanation in Early Physics
and Philosophy (1978) and Cartesian Logic: An Essay on Descartes’
Conception of Inference (1989); editor of Descartes:Philosophy, Mathematics
and Physics (1980) and The Uses of Antiquity: The Scientific Revolution and
the Classical Tradition (1991); and translator of Arnauld, On True and False
Ideas (1990).
xi
J.G.Cottingham is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading. His
books include Rationalism (1984), Descartes (1986), The Rationalists (Opus
Books, 1988) and A Descartes Dictionary (1992). He is co-translator of The
Philosophical Writings of Descartes (3 vols, 1985, 1991), editor of The
Cambridge Companion to Descartes (1992) and editor of the journal Ratio.
T.Sorell is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Essex. He is the author
of Hobbes (1988), Descartes (‘Past Masters’ series 1987) and Scientism
(1991) and is the editor of The Rise of Modern Philosophy
Hans W.Blom teaches in the Philosophy Department at the Erasmus
University, Rotterdam. He edited a book on the brothers de la Court, is the coauthor of a bibliography of Dutch seventeenth-century political theory and is
the author of several articles on seventeenth-century political philosophy.
Daisie Radner is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York
at Buffalo; she is the author of Malebranche (1978).
Nicholas Jolley is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San
Diego. He is the author of Leibniz and Locke (1984) and The Light of the Soul:
Theories of Ideas in Leibniz, Malebranche and Descartes (1990). He is also
the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz (forthcoming).
Chronology
Unless otherwise specified, the dates assigned to books or articles are the dates
of publication, and the dates assigned to musical or stage works are those of first
performance. The titles of works not written in English have been translated,
unless they are better known in their original form.
Politics and Religion
1304
1337
1370
1374
1401
1405
1407
1413
1415
1433
1434
1438
Giotto d.
Jan Hus, De Ecclesia, proposes church
reform
Hus burnt
Battle of Agincourt
c. 1413–16 Limburg brothers, Les très
riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Cosimo de’ Medici in power in
Florence
1438–45 Council of Florence tries to
unify East and West churches
Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Wedding
Portrait
1440
1444
1445
1452
1453
The Arts
c. 1440 Josquin des Pres, Flemish
composer, b.
Botticelli b.
Leonardo da Vinci b.
Hundred Years’ War ends
Constantinople falls to Sultan Mehmet
II
xiii
Politics and Religion
1453–5 ‘Gutenberg Bible’ printed in
Mainz
1454
1457
1462
1463
1464
1466
1468
1469
1472
1475
1479
1482
1483
The Arts
Cosimo de’ Medici d.
Lorenzo de’ Medici in power in
Florence
Machiavelli b.
Michelangelo b.
Spanish Inquisition established
Savonarola, preacher and reformer,
active in Florence
Luther b.
Raphael b.
Science and Technology Philosophy
Petrarch b.
Leonardo Bruni b.
Petrarch d.
Nicholas of Cusa b.
Bruni’s Latin version of Plato’s Phaedo
Lorenzo Valla b.
Ficino b.
Nicholas of Cusa, De docta ignorantia
c. 1440 Lorenzo Valla, De libero arbitrio written
Bruni d.
1304
1337
1370
1374
1401
1405
1407
1413
1415
1433
1434
1438
1440
1444
1445
1452
xiv
Science and Technology Philosophy
Angelo Poliziano b.
Lorenzo Valla d.
Pomponazzi b.
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola b.
Nicholas of Cusa d.
c. 1466 Erasmus b.
Cajetan b.
Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola b.
c. 1469 Agostino Nifo b.
1469–74 Ficino, Theologia Platonica de
immortalitate animae written
1472–4 Latin version of Aristotle (Venice)
1483/6 Francisco de Vitoria b.
Politics and Religion
1484
1485
1486
1489
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
The Arts
Malory, Morte d’Arthur
c. 1485 Titian b.
Conquest of Granada: Muslims
expelled from Spain
Jews expelled from Spain
Columbus’s voyage to West Indies
Lorenzo de’ Medici d.
Rabelais b.
Savonarola executed
Amerigo Vespucci explores coast of
Venezuela
1453
1454
1457
1462
1463
1464
1466
1468
1469
1472
1475
1479
1482
1483
xv
Politics and Religion
The Arts
1501
1508
1509
1510
1511
1513
1515
1516
1517
Palladio b.
1508–12 Michelangelo paints ceiling
of Sistine chapel
Calvin b.
Botticelli d.
Erasmus, In Praise of Folly, attacks
church corruption
Machiavelli writes The Prince
5th Lateran Council restricts freedom
of philosophers
Erasmus, edition of the Greek New
Testament
Luther posts his ninety-five theses at
Wittenberg
1519
1520
Science and Technology
Leonardo da Vinci d.
Raphael d.
Philosophy
Ficino, Latin version of Plato
Mario Nizolio b.
Paracelsus, Swiss alchemist, b.
Agrippa von Nettesheim b.
Ficino, De vita libri tres
Giovanni Pico, De ente et uno
Latin version of Plotinus
Valla, De libero arbitrio printed
Giovanni Pico d.
Poliziano d.
Aldine edition of Greek text of
Aristotle
Regiomontanus, Epitome of Ptolemy’s
Almagest
1485
1486
1489
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
Latin version of Epictetus
Melanchthon b.
Ficino d.
Cardano b.
1484
1497
1498
1499
1501
xvi
Science and Technology
Philosophy
Telesio b.
Aldine edition of Plato
Ramus b.
Pomponazzi, Tractatus de
Immortalitate Animae
Gianfrancesco Pico, Examen Vanitatis
Doctrinae Gentium
Politics and Religion
1592
1593
1594
1596
1597
1598
1610
1611
1612
1614
1517
1519
1520
The Arts
Marlowe d.
Bacon, Essays (Ist edn)
Edict of Nantes: guarantees given to French
Protestants
1599
1600
1601
1603
1604
1605
1606
1608
1609
1508
1509
1510
1511
1513
1515
1516
Globe Theatre opened, London
Velasquez b.
Jesuit Matteo Ricci goes to Peking
Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part I
Rembrandt b.
Milton b.
Truce between Spain and the United
Provinces; Dutch achieve de facto
independence
‘King James Bible’ published
Bœhme, Aurora
Monteverdi, Vespers
Shakespeare, The Tempest
El Greco d.
xvii
Politics and Religion
The Arts
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part II
Shakespeare d.
Cervantes d.
Beginning of Thirty Years’ War
1618–19 Synod of Dort strengthens position
of Calvinists in Holland
Mayflower sails to America
Science and Technology
Kepler, Mysterium cosmographicum
Gilbert, De magnete
Molière b.
Philosophy
Gassendi b.
Montaigne d.
Charron, Les trois véritez
Du Vair, De la constance et
consolation ès calamités publiques
Descartes b.
Suarez, Disputationes metaphysicae
Fonseca d.
Bruno burnt at Rome
Molina d.
Charron, De la sagesse
Charron d.
Lipsius, Manuductio ad Stoicam
philosophiam
Bacon, The Advancement of Learning
Lipsius d.
Hans Lippershey applies for a patent
for his telescope
Galileo constructs his first telescope
Kepler, Astronomia nova
Galileo, Sidereus nuncius
1592
1593
1594
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1603
1604
1605
1606
1608
1609
Arnauld b.
1610
1611
1612
xviii
Science and Technology
Philosophy
Suarez, Tractatus de Legibus ac Deo
legislature
1614
1615
1616
Inquisition pronounces in favour of the
Ptolemaic system
Suarez d.
Kepler, Harmonices mundi
Bacon, Novum Organum
Greek text of Sextus Empiricus
published
Du Vair d.
Johannes Clauberg b.
Politics and Religion
1554
1555
1556
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1564
1565
1567
1568
1569
1571
1572
1575
1576
The Arts
Peace of Augsburg recognizes the
coexistence of Catholics and Lutherans in
Germany
Index Librorum Prohibitorum promulgated
Calvin d.
Shakespeare b.
Marlowe b.
Michelangelo d.
Monteverdi b.
Revolt of the Netherlands from Spain
St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French
Protestants in Paris
Bœhme b.
John Donne b.
Titian d.
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
xix
Politics and Religion
1578
1579
1580
1581
1584
1586
1588
1589
1591
The Arts
Union of Utrecht: Northern provinces of
Netherlands unite
Palladio d.
El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz
Defeat of Spanish Armada
Science and Technology
Agricola, De re metallica
Philosophy
Petrarch, Opera Omnia published
Ramus, Dialectique
Guillaume du Vair b.
Molina, Concordia
Melanchthon d.
Latin translation of Proclus
Francis Bacon b.
Latin version of Sextus Empiricus,
Outlines of Pyrrhonism
Galileo b.
Telesio, De rerum natura
Nizolio d.
Campanella b.
Latin version of Sextus Empiricus,
Adversus mathematicos
Kepler b.
Latin version of Euclid
Ramus killed in St Bartholomew’s Day
massacre
Cardano d.
Estienne (Stephanus), edition of Plato
Greek text of Plotinus published
Montaigne, Essais, I–II
1554
1555
1556
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1564
1565
1567
1568
1569
1571
1572
1575
1576
1578
1579
1580
xx
Science and Technology
Philosophy
Sanches, Quod nihil scitur
Bruno, De la causa
Bruno, De l’infinito universo e mondi
Lipsius, De constantia in publicis
malis
Stevin, Elements of the Art of
Weighing (On the principles of statics)
Latin version of Pappus
1586
Hobbes b.
Telesio d.
Molina, Concordia liberi arbitrii cum
gratiae donis
Lipsius, Six Books on Politics
Zabarella d.
Campanella, Philosophia sensibus
demonstrata
Politics and Religion
1592
1593
1594
1596
1597
1598
1610
1611
1612
1588
1589
1591
The Arts
Marlowe d.
Bacon, Essays (Ist edn)
Edict of Nantes: guarantees given to French
Protestants
1599
1600
1601
1603
1604
1605
1606
1608
1609
1581
1584
Globe Theatre opened, London
Velasquez b.
Jesuit Matteo Ricci goes to Peking
Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part I
Rembrandt b.
Milton b.
Truce between Spain and the United
Provinces; Dutch achieve de facto
independence
‘King James Bible’ published
Böhme, Aurora
Monteverdi, Vespers
Shakespeare, The Tempest
xxi
Politics and Religion
The Arts
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
El Greco d.
Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part II
Shakespeare d.
Cervantes d.
Beginning of Thirty Years’ War
1618–19 Synod of Dort strengthens position
of Calvinists in Holland
Mayflower sails to America
Science and Technology
Kepler, Mysterium cosmographicum
Gilbert, De magnete
Molière b.
Philosophy
Gassendi b.
Montaigne d.
Charron, Les trois véritez
Du Vair, De la constance et
consolation ès calamités publiques
Descartes b.
Suarez, Disputationes metaphysicae
Fonseca d.
Bruno burnt at Rome
Molina d.
Charron, De la sagesse
Charron d.
Lipsius, Manuductio ad Stoicam
philosophiam
Bacon, The Advancement of Learning
Lipsius d.
Hans Lippershey applies for a patent
for his telescope
Galileo constructs his first telescope
Kepler, Astronomia nova
Galileo, Sidereus nuncius
1592
1593
1594
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1603
1604
1605
1606
1608
1609
Arnauld b.
1610
1611
1612
xxii
Science and Technology
Philosophy
Suarez, Tractatus de Legibus ac Deo
legislature
1614
1615
1616
Inquisition pronounces in favour of the
Ptolemaic system
Suarez d.
Kepler, Harmonices mundi
Bacon, Novum Organum
Greek text of Sextus Empiricus
published
Du Vair d.
Johannes Clauberg b.
Politics and Religion
1623
1624
1643
1644
1622
The Arts
First Folio edition of Shakespeare
William Byrd d.
Richelieu chief minister of Louis XIII
Bœhme d.
1626
1627
1628
1630
1631
1632
1633
1635
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
Bunyan b.
John Donne d.
Rembrandt, Dr. Tulp’s anatomy lesson
Vermeer b.
Donne, Poems
Milton, Lycidas
Racine b.
Richelieu d., succeeded by Mazarin
English Civil War begins
Accession of Louis XIV
Rembrandt, Night Watch
Monteverdi d.
Milton, Areopagitica
xxiii
Politics and Religion
1646
1648
1649
1650
1651
The Arts
Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty
Years’ War.
Dutch independence formally
recognized
Execution of Charles I of England
The Netherlands: Republican
statesman Jan de Witt in power
English Civil War ends
1655
1656
1658
1660
Science and Technology
Robert Boyle b.
Harvey, Concerning the Motion of the
Heart and Blood
Kepler d.
Galileo, Dialogue on the Two Chief
World Systems
Galileo condemned by the Inquisition
for upholding the Copernican system
Académie Française founded
Descartes, Geometry, Optics,
Meteorology
Galileo, Discourses on Two New
Sciences
Velasquez, Las Meninas
Velasquez d.
Philosophy
Bacon, De Augmentas Scientiarum
Sanches d.
Gassendi, Exercitationes paradoxicae
Geulincx b.
Cordemoy b.
Bacon d.
Bacon, New Atlantis
c. 1628 Descartes’s Regulae ad
directionem ingenii written
Spinoza b.
Locke b.
La Forge b.
1623
1624
1626
1627
1628
1630
1631
1632
1633
Descartes, Discourse on Method
1635
1637
Malebranche b.
1638
Campanella d.
Hobbes, The Elements of Law
1639
1640