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Secularisation and the Leiden Circle
book
posted on 2023-06-07, 21:09 authored by Mark SomosThis book shows how a group of early-seventeenth-century writers excluded theologically grounded argument from a wide range of disciplines, from the natural sciences to international relations. Somos uses richly contextualised portraits of Scaliger, Heinsius, Cunaeus and Grotius to develop a new model of secularisation as a contingent, cumulative, and incomplete process, with some unintended consequences. Facing severe conflict, the Leiden Circle realised that rival claims that staked their truth-content and validity on religious belief were ultimately irreconcilable. Gradually they removed such claims from acceptable discourse, contributing to the comprehensive secularisation that defines modernity. If blindness to religious claims has become definitive of modern politics, Somos concludes, recollecting its historical complexity and contingency is essential for overcoming some of its failures.
History
Publication status
- Published
Publisher
Brill Academic PublishersPages
544.0ISBN
9789004209558Department affiliated with
- History Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes