Samuel Colliber (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1718–1737) was an English writer, a lay author on theological and naval matters.

John Knox Laughton Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a math ...

suggested he was a Royal Navy volunteer or schoolmaster.

Works

Colliber published in 1727 ''Columna Rostrata'', a naval history with significant coverage of the

Anglo-Dutch wars The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three w ...

of the 17th century. It took account of Dutch and French sources. A second edition was published in 1742. Colliber wrote also a number of religious tracts, including: * ''An Impartial Enquiry into the Existence and Nature of God'' (1718, 230 pp.), citing

Pierre Poiret Pierre Poiret Naudé (15 April 1646 – 21 May 1719) was a prominent French mystic and Christian philosopher. He was born in Metz and died in Rijnsburg. Life and accomplishments After the early death of his parents, he supported himself ...

and among other Cartesian thinkers, and which ran through several editions; * ''The Christian Religion Founded on Reason'' (1729); * ''Free Thoughts concerning Souls'' (1734), citing

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

; and * ''The Known God, or the Author of Nature unveiled'' (1737). Colliber took up the ideas of

Samuel Clarke Samuel Clarke (11 October 1675 – 17 May 1729) was an English philosopher and Anglican cleric. He is considered the major British figure in philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley. Early life and studies Clarke was born in Norwich ...

on the

existence of God The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorize ...

, and his modifications influenced

Edmund Law Edmund Law (6 June 1703 – 14 August 1787) was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy in the University of Cambridge from 1764 to 1769, and as bishop of Carlisle ...

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted e ...

cited Colliber against Cartesian plenism.

Notes

External links

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Colliber, Samuel Year of birth missing 1737 deaths 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English writers English philosophers