Franciscus van den Enden: Spinoza’s Latin Teacher
June 28, 2008
A website dedicated to the life and works of Spinoza’s Amsterdam teacher of Latin, no doubt he who introduced him to the plays of Seneca and Terence and many of a political circle. Filled with notable details, primary sources and histories. A thinker whose influence on Spinoza is yet calculable:
Franciscus van den Enden
July 1, 2008 at 3:19 pm
[...] of an underpinning influence of Spinoza’s thought, to give context to the Van den Enden link below. Klever, remarkably, considers him the “genius” behind Spinoza’s thought. Part of [...]
July 8, 2008 at 2:52 am
Indeed, I called Van den Enden the ‘genius’ behind Spinoza. And from year to year I am more and more convinced that I am right. In 2007 I privately published my translation in poor English of his magisterial treatise, in which he defended, as the first in Western history, direct democracy. Title: Franciscus van den Enden, ‘Free politicalpropositions and considerations of state’ (1665). Text in translation, the relevant biographical documents and a selection from ‘Kort Verhael’. Introduced, presented, translated and commented on by Wim Klever (Vrijstad 2007). This work of 213 pages may be ordered on my e-mail. The costs are 30 euro.
July 9, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Professor Klever. Thank you very much for your comment on this, and your translation of Van den Enden’s works sounds intriguing.