Grinnell, Iowa, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
17th/18th Century Philosophy
Areas of Interest
General Philosophy of Science
  •  6
    Introduction
    In , Springer Verlag. 2013.
  • Radical Cartesian Politics and Spinoza's Change of Mind
    Dissertation, The Claremont Graduate University. 2003.
    In this dissertation, I trace the development of Spinoza's philosophy of mind throughout his corpus. I argue that understanding the development of his thought, as well as its historical context, helps us understand how Spinoza's mature system fits together. Owing to the complexity and systematic nature of Spinoza's philosophy, along with the tendency in the literature to study his Ethics in isolation, the importance of such connections for the proper understanding of any particular area of his t…Read more
  •  12
    Review of Moira Gatens (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Benedict Spinoza (review)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2010 (3). 2010.
  • Affectus: laetitia, tristitia, and cupiditas
    In W. van Bunge, H. Krop, J. M. M. van den Ven & P. Steenbakkers (eds.), Continuum Companion to Spinoza, Continuum. 2011.
  •  596
    Radical Cartesian Politics: Van Velthuysen, De la Court, and Spinoza
    Studia Spinozana: An International and Interdisciplinary Series 15 35-65. 1999.
    Spinoza's political writings are not merely a theoretical exercise or a philosophical conclusion of his system. They are part of a very practical political discussion in seventeenth-century Holland. Spinoza was influenced by and played a role in a political movement known as "Radical Cartesianism", which combined ideas from Descartes and Hobbes in order to argue against the reinstatement of a stadholder. This movement provided arguments for religious and philosophical freedom and against monarc…Read more
  • Conscientia
    In W. van Bunge, H. Krop, P. Steenbakkers & J. M. M. van den Ven (eds.), Continuum Companion to Spinoza, Continuum. 2011.
  •  33
    Seventeenth-century Holland was a culture divided. Orthodox Calvinists, loyal to both scholastic philosophy and the quasi-monarchical House of Orange, saw their world turned upside down with the sudden death of Prince William II and no heir to take his place. The Republicans seized this opportunity to create a decentralized government favourable to Holland's trading interests and committed to religious and philosophical tolerance. The now ruling regent class, freshly trained in the new philosoph…Read more
  •  7
    Interpreting Spinoza: Critical Essays (review)
    Philosophy in Review 29 (1). 2009.
  •  12
    De Volder’s Cartesian Physics and Experimental Pedagogy
    In Mihnea Dobre Tammy Nyden (ed.), Cartesian Empiricisms, Springer. 2014.
    In 1675, Burchard de Volder (1643–1709) was the first professor to introduce the demonstration of experiment into a university physics course and built the Leiden Physics Theatre to accommodate this new pedagogy. When he requested the funds from the university to build the facility, he claimed that the performance of experiments would demonstrate the “truth and certainty” of the postulates of theoretical physics. Such a claim is interesting given de Volder’s lifelong commitment to Cartesian scie…Read more
  •  3
    Living Force at Leiden: De Volder, 's Gravesande and the Reception of Newtonianism
    In Zvi Biener Eric Schliesser (ed.), Newton and Empiricism, Oxford University Press. 2014.
    This paper will examine the work of two physics professors at the University of Leiden: Burchard de Volder (1643-1709) and his successor, Willem J ‘s Gravesande (1668-1742). Both men are responsible for innovations in pedagogy that emphasize the demonstration of experiment: de Volder was the first university physics professor to demonstrate experiments in his classroom and created the Leiden Physics Theatre for that purpose; one generation later, ‘s Gravesande taught in that same theatre and pro…Read more
  •  28
    Cartesian Empiricisms (edited book)
    Springer Verlag. 2013.
    Mihnea Dobre, Tammy Nyden. to not only notice the “anomalies,” but able to develop more useful narratives that can fully incorporate them. This work is a first step towards that end. We do not put forward an alternative narrative ourselves, but ...
  •  2
    Sankara, Śāntarakṣita and Spinoza.
    In Marie-Louise Friquegnon & Noé Dinnerstein (eds.), Studies on Śāntarakṣita’s Yogācāra Madhyamaka, Global Scholarly Publications. 2012.
    Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth century Dutch rationalist, has always been seen as a bit of an anomaly within the Western tradition. His monism, unique conception of God as Nature, and ethical focus on human freedom or liberation has occasioned some comparisons with Asian philosophies. Unfortunately, almost all of these comparisons take the form of vague passing remarks within the context of a work or discussion with another philosophical focus. The reader is often left to wonder what the partic…Read more
  •  436
    Experiment in Cartesian Courses: The Case of Professor Burchard de Volder
    The Circulation of Science and Technology. 2010.
    In 1675, Burchard de Volder became the first university physics professor to introduce the demonstration of experiments into his lectures and to create a special university classroom, The Leiden Physics Theatre, for this specific purpose. This is surprising for two reasons: first, early pre-Newtonian experiment is commonly associated with Italy and England, and second, de Volder is committed to Cartesian philosophy, including the view that knowledge gathered through the senses is subject to doub…Read more