Translation as a philosophical plot and strategy. From Vanini to the Traité des trois imposteurs, passing by Spinoza and his Esprit

The Traité des trois imposteurs is based on a compilation of translated or paraphrased fragments of heterodox texts from the seventeenth century. A comparative analysis of Vanini’s De Admirandis Naturae, L’Esprit de Spinoza, and the Traité illustrates a gradual transformation, by way of (re)translations, in the direction of atheism and materialism. Vanini’s critique of scripture and religion incorporated into the Traité thus becomes part of a translation strategy and part of the Enlightenment.

Publication year:2019

Keywords:radical Enlightenment, clandestine philosophy, praxis, Jews, Christians