Dutchphilosophy is a broad branch of philosophy that discusses the contributions of Dutch philosophers to the discourse ofWestern philosophy andRenaissance philosophy. The philosophy, as its own entity, arose in the 16th and 17th centuries through the philosophical studies ofDesiderius Erasmus andBaruch Spinoza. The adoption of the humanistic perspective by Erasmus, despite his Christian background, and rational but theocentric perspective expounded by Spinoza, supported each of these philosopher's works.[1][2] In general, the philosophy revolved around acknowledging the reality of humanself-determination and rational thought rather than focusing on traditional ideals offatalism andvirtue raised inChristianity.[3] The roots of philosophical frameworks like themind-body dualism andmonism debate can also be traced to Dutch philosophy, which is attributed to 17th century philosopherRené Descartes. Descartes was both a mathematician and philosopher during theDutch Golden Age, despite being from theKingdom of France.[4] Modern Dutch philosophers likeD.H. Th. Vollenhoven provided critical analyses on the dichotomy between dualism and monism.[5]
In general, Dutch philosophy is characterised by a discussion of the importance of rational thought andhumanism with literary links to religion, specificallyCalvinism and biblical criticism thereof. Modern Dutch philosophers in the 20th century likeGerrit Mannoury have also, in addition to discussions on humanism, placed an emphasis on the connection between science and Dutch philosophy.[6]
Desiderius Erasmus's influence on Dutch philosophy is marked by his contributions to the discourse ofChristian humanism, which highlights a philosophy that synthesises the humanistic perspective of self-determination with classical Christian traditions of virtue.[7] At the core of his philosophical teachings, Erasmus promulgated the religious doctrine ofdocta pietas (English: learned piety), which Erasmus believed was the 'Philosophy of Christ'.[7] Erasmus, further expanded upon this notion inJulius Excluded from Heaven (Latin:Julius exclusus e coelis), as cited inThe Erasmus Reader where:
"Our great master did not come down from heaven to earth to give men some easy or common philosophy. It is not a carefree or tranquil profession to be a Christian."[8]
Erasmus also wrote a large collection of ten critical essays titledOpera Omnia, which explore critical views on topics that range from education on the philosophy of Christian humanism in theDutch Republic to his personal translation of theNew Testament that consisted of his humanistic-influenced annotations.[9][10] He grounded these annotations through extensive readings ofChurch Fathers writings.[11] Erasmus further commented inEnchiridion militis Christiani (Latin: Handbook of a Christian Knight) that the readings can equip people with a more advanced understanding of Christian humanism.[12] The book was written in order to highlight the divergence of theological education fromclassical antiquity, which incorporated a philosophy on morals and ethics, practised in the Dutch Republic during the 16th century.[11][12] Erasmus further argued that detailed knowledge of classical antiquity would correspond to people having greater knowledge of the 'Philosophy of Christ' and therefore, have some knowledge of Christian humanistic philosophy.[13]
The development of Dutch philosophy was one that expounded the fallacy behind God's metaphysical nature and in general, God's existence. These fallacies are attributed to the writings of Baruch Spinoza.[14] With lacking affiliations to any religious institution and university, a direct consequence of being excommunicated by his local Sephardic community inAmsterdam for the aforementioned views, Spinoza pursued his philosophical studies with a degree of independence.[15] Spinoza's philosophical works, theTractatus Theologico-Politicus (also referred to as theTheologico-Political Treatise), which was Spinoza's only work published during his lifetime, contributed to his influence on Dutch philosophy.[16] TheTheologico-Political Treatise discusses the relevance of Calvinist theology in the Dutch Republic by commenting how the Bible should be interpreted exclusively on its own terms by extracting information about the Bible from only what is directly evident in the text. Spinoza also raised the need to avoid the formulation of hypotheticals about what the Bible may assume, referred to as his hermeneutic principle.[17] Additionally, in this work, Spinoza advocated for the practice oflibertas philosophandi ( Latin: freedom to philosophise) which emphasises the importance of philosophy that is void of any external religious or political constraint.[18]
Ethics—published after his death—garnered Spinoza scholarly attention, as he was one of the first Dutch philosophers during the Renaissance period that gave criticism to long-standing perspectives on God, the universe, nature and the ethical principles that grounded them.[19] Spinoza incorporated metaphysical and anthropological conceptions to support his conclusions.[20] This work, together with others, led to Spinoza being ostracised from the Jewish community in Amsterdam because he devalued the commonly held belief that God should not be "feign a God, like man, consisting of a body and mind, and subject to passions."[21]
Spinoza further extended this belief in his Propositions inEthics by commenting on the nature of human desire as one that is interrelated with the mind'spathema (Ancient Greek: passions).[22] In conjunction, the human desire andpathema contributed to what Spinoza argued was anaffect of the human body, which grant humans the capability to achieve some state of perfection.[23][24] Modern Dutch philosopher Theo Verbeek further comments that Spinoza's commentaries on the affect, in addition to the practice of libertas philosophandi, contributed to Renaissance Dutch philosophy.[25]
The dualism and monism philosophical frameworks are a dimension of thephilosophy of mind with their roots traced to Dutch philosophy. René Descartes described the dualism framework as one that makes a distinction between the two primary substances constituting human beings: the mind (soul) and body.[26] Similarly, D.H.Th. Vollenhoven further expanded upon this notion through his explanation of anthropological dualism, which focuses on gauging from what exact sources the mind and body originate.[5] On the other hand, the monism framework argues that all substances originate from one source where Descartes extended this through Cartesian dualism. He stated that a core attribute is that they are created by God or rather require some "immediate concurrence in all things".[27]
Spinoza's philosophy on the dualism was antithetical to Descartes, as he argued that instead of the mind and body being classed as substances that are distinct from one another, they are meant to be classified as one whole entity and are thus, interdependent on each other's functioning.[28] Portuguese-American neuroscientistAntonio Damasio supports Spinoza's idea by making a connection between the mind and body that one does not exist without the other and therefore, require to co-exist.[29] He further comments how these philosophical commentaries contributed to Spinoza's influence on Dutch philosophy.[29] Spinoza also posited inEthics that the only one extended substance in existence is the entire world, which consists of every form of matter in existence.[30] Spinoza considered human beings to be a subset of this one substance and are considered as an "extension" of the body.[31] A degree of mutual understanding among the two philosophers on this debate is found in their commentaries on the primary attribute of the mind and the body-the former being thought, while the latter, being extension.[32] The commonality in understanding lies in Descartes's discussion of each attribute exhibiting the "nature and essence" of all substances inPrincipia Philosophiae, where Spinoza similarly argued inEthics that the core property of the one substance is that it too constitutes some form of essence.[32][33]
Rationalism, which also stems from Renaissance Dutch philosophy, is credited to the studies of Descartes. He described his formal rationalist principles inMeditations on First Philosophy.[34] Descartes's publication of the Principia Philosophiae in 1644 was synonymous with providing the first linkage between rationalism,natural philosophy andnatural science. The philosophical view of rationalism and studies of natural philosophy and science, according to Dutch philosopherL. E. J. Brouwer, contributed to academic commentaries on Dutch philosophy in the 20th century.[35][36] His rational worldview contrasted Calvinist principles on the laws of nature taught by theologians at universities in the Dutch Republic.[37] Specifically, in 1640, Dutch theologianGisbertus Voetius argued that Descartes's mind-body dualism framework does not consider God's creation of the world and is therefore, antithetical to the teachings of Calvinism.[38][39] Distinct to Descartes' philosophy and by extension, Dutch philosophy, was the recognition of rationalistic philosophy.[39] This was grounded by, according to Descartes, a "well-directed intelligence...and distinct that absolutely no doubt is left about that which we understand."[40][41]
A particular attribute of this rationalistic philosophy that can be traced to Descartes's works is the concept of 'transparency of the mind' to which American philosopherGary Hatfield states that the mind does not have any correlation with the material world, as it is subject to constant perception andindirect realism.[42] This extends to Hatfield further arguing that Descartes acknowledged in his understanding of rationalistic philosophy that a core condition of this concept is that if the mind is conscious, it is ultimately aware of its own thoughts and mental states.[42] The distribution of these commentaries on rationalism by Descartes throughout the Renaissance period is credited to the studies of philosophy undertaken inUtrecht University andLeiden University in the Dutch Republic during the 17th century.[43]
Additionally, in theLow Countries, which consists of theNetherlands, the philosophy became driven by discussions on vernacular rationalism in the 17th and 18th centuries.[44] This type of rationalism revolved around a cultural avant-garde discussion of the country's widely accepted ethics, the implications of unfamiliarity with rationalism and that reason should dictate all modes of human behaviour.[45] Vernacular nationalism, studied in the Netherlands, was a by-product of the humanist studies that were led by Renaissance intellectual figures like Spinoza. Dutch historian Ruben Buys, in his thesisSparks of Reason, explains that this type of rationalism is closely related and has its roots in Renaissance humanism which prioritises human dignity and self-determination over Christian classicism.[45]
Despite the scientific and rational contributions of Spinoza and Descartes to Renaissance Dutch philosophy, interest in the parallel between science and Dutch philosophy also resurfaced in the 20th century.[46] James W. McAllister, the current Academic Director of the Philosophy of Science department at Leiden University, has contributed to discussing the influences of scientific thinking on Dutch philosophy with literary links to the DutchSignifics Group.[46] They brought to the fore the study ofanalytic philosophy, which used criticism to suggest that methodology, with the support ofintuitionistic logic, should be incorporated to discuss the relationship between science and Dutch philosophy.[47] Many works detailing this relationship were published in journal publications likeSynthese (1936), the book seriesStudies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics (1958) as well as studies by intellectual figures likeGerrit Mannoury andEvert Willem Beth, whose works are still archived in Amsterdam andHaarlem and are yet to be analysed.[48] Mannoury assisted in advancing this scholarly interest in the relationship between science and Dutch philosophy by taking a critically interdisciplinary approach to his studies of logic and language in philosophy.[49]
Signifist thinkers placed an emphasis on establishing a distinction between intuitionistic logic andlinguistics ofmathematics, where the latter, according to Dutch mathematician Johan de Iongh, should guide any discussion of 'mathematical activities' in Dutch scientific philosophy.[50] Mannoury further added to this discourse through his commentaries inErkenntnis (German: knowledge recognition), a journal of philosophy that focuses on scientific philosophy andepistemology.[51][52] He discusses that any form of communication by philosophers in their studies, either through logical semantics or language of mathematics, should incorporate psychologism (categorised by Mannoury as "mysticism"), in their respective philosophical writings.[53] Mannoury commented on the relevance of psychologism, as he argued that its critical understanding would provide greater knowledge of self-consciousness for all philosophers, irrespective of their speciality areas in philosophy.[54] Mannoury's philosophical readings also had a role in educating the public about the Significs group with some of his commentaries cited in a 1953 edition, volume 16 of theWinkler Prins, which formerly was the largest Dutch encyclopaedia until 1993.[55][56]
The education of Beth, who completed his PhD atUniversity of Amsterdam in 1935 on natural sciences, was supported by the Marburg School's ideas ofneo-Kantianism.[51] This school of thought commented on the need for a distinction between psychology and philosophy, whereas other signifist thinkers like Mannoury argued that the two academic fields should complement each other in discussions of science in Dutch philosophy.[57] Members of the Society for Critical Philosophy, which was the Dutch branch of the school, upheld a rational view on the empirical philosophy of mathematics.[51] Beth, who was a member, published an academic paper in 1933 highlighting that the "critical method" in "the construction of philosophy" should revolve around studies of intuitionistic logic without any influence of psychology.[58] He further commented that this logic is closely interrelated with any discourse on science in Dutch philosophy, as practised by the Significs. This is because, according to Beth, intuitionistic logic acts as a foundational component of scientific discussions in Dutch philosophy.[59][60]
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