Between the underground and the public sphere. The case of Koerbagh

Adriaan Koerbagh, friend of Spinoza, has a place in the clandestine philosophical literature. His two works, both of 1668, Een Bloemhof van allerley lieflijkheyd sonder verdriet and Een ligt schynende in duystere plaatsen, have the shape of a printed clandestine treatise. Concerning the content, we can find a critique of metaphysics and of religion, a philosophical naturalism and the anti-hierarchical idea of universal equality and freedom. The most eminent difference with the clandestine literature although is: Koerbagh has exclusively written in Dutch and his aim was to reach with his message a large public. In this article I illustrate this particular condition between underground and public sphere by an analysis of some examples chosen in the two mentioned works.

Publication year:2018

Keywords:Spinoza - Enlightenment - littérature clandestine