Bernard Nieuwentijt, Nieuwentijdt, or Nieuwentyt (10 August 1654, West-Graftdijk, North Holland – 30 May 1718,

Purmerend Purmerend () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and in the region of West Friesland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the t ...

) was a Dutch philosopher, mathematician, physician, magistrate, mayor (of Purmerend), and theologian.

Career

As a philosopher, Nieuwentyt was a follower of Descartes and an opponent of

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, ...

. In 1695 he was involved in a controversy over the foundations of infinitesimal calculus with

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...

. Nieuwentijt advocated 'nilsquare' infinitesimals (which have higher powers of zero), whereas Leibniz was uncertain about explicitly adopting such a rule - they did however come to be used throughout physics from then on. He wrote several books (in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

) including his chief work ''Het regt gebruik der werelt beschouwingen, ter overtuiginge van ongodisten en ongelovigen'' he True Use of Contemplating the World(1715), which argued for the existence of God and attacked Spinoza.Jonathan Israel, ''Enlightenment Contested'', p. 385–6 It went through several editions (1715, 1717, 1720, 1725, 1730, 1740) published by Joannes Pauli, and was translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as ''The religious philosopher, or the right use of contemplating the works of the Creator'' (1718) and into French as ''De l'existence de Dieu démontrée par les merveilles de la nature, ou traité téléologique dirigé contre la doctrine de Spinoza par un médecin hollandais''.

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

owned a copy of this book, and it was an influence on

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English clergyman, Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work ''Natu ...

, to the extent that in 1859 Robert Blakey could make "a detailed argument for plagiarism" by Paley. To the English version was added a letter to the translator by

John Theophilus Desaguliers John Theophilus Desaguliers FRS (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had studied at ...

.Bernard Nieuwenty
The Religious Philosopher: Or, The Right Use of Contemplating the Works of the Creator
Vol. II (transl. by John Chamberlayne) Cambridge: Cambr. Uni. Press, 2015 Nieuwentyt's posthumously published ''Gronden van zekerheid'' undaments of Certitude, or the Right Method of Mathematicians in the Ideal as well as the Real(1720) argued Spinoza's 'geometrical method' was not the proper 'experimental method' of science. The work also contains a critique of the ontological argument similar to a later critique by

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

Works

*''Het regt gebruik der werelt beschouwingen, ter overtuiginge van ongodisten en ongelovigen'', Amsterdam, 1715
''The Religious Philosopher''
1718 *''Gronden van zekerheid'', 1720

References

External links

* * Bernard Nieuwenty
The Religious Philosopher: Or, The Right Use of Contemplating the Works of the Creator
Vol. II (transl. by John Chamberlayne) Cambridge: Cambr. Uni. Press, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nieuwentyt, Bernard 1654 births 1718 deaths 17th-century Dutch philosophers 18th-century Dutch philosophers Christian philosophers Dutch Christian theologians 17th-century Dutch mathematicians People from Graft-De Rijp Enlightenment philosophers Age of Enlightenment

Career

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links