Spinoza’s Critique and the Making of Modern Religion in the Enlightenment Era

• Authors: Tomaszewska Anna
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In recent publications on the Enlightenment, Baruch Spinoza is often associated with the radical “fringe,” advocating against Christianity and giving rise to the incipient process of secularization. In this paper, it is argued that we should look for Spinoza’s influence on the Enlightenment in his ideas inspiring heterodox theologians: radical reformers aiming to “rationalize” revelation but not to dismiss it altogether. Several cases of such thinkers are adduced and shortly discussed: Jarig Jelles, Johan Christian Edelmann, Carl Friedrich Bahrdt and Immanuel Kant. Finally, three ways of conceptualizing the relation between Enlightenment and religion are sketched to address the question whether the sources of secularization can indeed be traced back to the Enlightenment.

Keywords

EN

Enlightenment; Spinoza; rational religion; heterodoxy; secularization

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk; Fundacja Filozofia Na Rzecz Dialogu
• Journal: Dialogue and Universalism
• Year: 2021
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 217-232

Contributors

author

Tomaszewska Anna

• Institute of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.