Baconianism in the Seventeenth-century Netherlands : a preliminary survey / Alberto Elena.
Abstract:
Whereas many studies have been devoted to the dissemination of Cartesianism in the seventeenth-century Netherlands, the impact of Francis Bacon's philosophy remains virtually unexplored. However, Bacon's influence on the academic and non-academic circles was certainly strong at that time. A closer look at the university activity evinces a widespread acquaintance with Bacon's ideas coexisting with the hegemonic, but somewhat eclectic, Cartesianism. The cases of Constantijn and Christiaan Huygens are paradigmatic on that score and show how highly esteemed Bacon was even outside the universities. On the other hand, the existence of seventeenth-century Dutch translations of both the Essays and the New Atlantis bears witness to an increasing and many-coloured audience for Baconianism in the United Provinces. To determine what could have been the channels of transmission is not an easy task, however. Figures such as William Boswell or Joseph Williamson were probably instrumental in spreading Bacon's ideas in the Netherlands, but sound evidence is still lacking in many respects and the question is far from having been settled. But despite the fact of our ignorance of the definite channels of the introduction of Bacon's philosophy (the so-called 'vulgar Baconianism' no less than his method and scientific doctrines) in the United Provinces, a much more outstanding rôle should be accorded to Lord Verulam in dealing with the seventeenth-century Dutch scientific tradition
Nuncius A. 6, fasc. 1 (1991), p. 33-47