Concept
Jonathan Israel
Overview
Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 22 January 1946) is a British historian specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza's philosophy and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, in January 2001 and retired in July 2016. He was previously Professor of Dutch History and Institutions at the University College London.
In recent years, Israel has focused his attention on a multi-volume history of the Age of Enlightenment. He contrasts two camps. The "radical Enlightenment" was founded on a rationalist materialism first articulated by Spinoza. Standing in opposition was a "moderate Enlightenment" which he sees as weakened by its belief in God.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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God having endued man with those faculties of knowledge which he hath, was no more obliged by his goodness to plant those innate notions in his mind, than that, having given him reason, hands, and materials, he should build him bridges or houses,—which some people in the world, however of good parts, do either totally want, or are but ill provided of, as well as others are wholly without ideas of God and principles…
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1
The author is tied to Jonathan Israel in the knowledge graph.
xi, 11. which was, as it seems, all one as to be judge. And he judged Israel, judg. xii. 7. that is, was their captain-general six years.
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government
States what Jonathan Israel is; the author is tied to Jonathan Israel in the knowledge graph.
The principle of the inherent relation of thought to being was preserved intact, but its practical locus was moved down from the next world to this. Spinoza’s “God or Nature” is the logical outcome; as is also his strict correlation of the attribute of matter with the attribute of thought; while his combination of thorough distrust of passion and faith with complete faith in reason and all-absorbing passion for…
John Dewey, The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy, and other essays in contemporary thought
Close in meaning to Jonathan Israel; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed Jonathan Israel
Related ideas
- French Revolution
- Historian
- British Academy
- Fellow of the British Academy
- Age of Enlightenment
- University of Oxford
- Baruch Spinoza
- University of Amsterdam
- Samuel Moyn
Place in the tradition
Part of Neostoicism.