Jacobus Wittichius (Jacob Wittich) (1677–1739) was a German-Dutch philosopher, a

Cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to: Mathematics *Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory *Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...

and follower of

Burchard de Volder Burchard de Volder (26 July 1643 – 21 March 1709) was a Dutch physician. Biography He was born in a Mennonite family in Amsterdam. He earned an M.A. in philosophy at the University of Utrecht under in 1660. He earned his medical doctorate ...

, and holder of controversial views on the

nature of God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

Life

He was the son of Tobias Wittich and nephew of

Christophorus Wittichius Christoph Wittich or Christophorus Wittichius (1625, in Brieg – 1687, in Leiden) was a Dutch theologian. He is known for attempting to reconcile Descartes' philosophy with the Scriptures. Life He studied theology in Bremen, Groningen and Leid ...

, and was born in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

. He studied under Herman Alexander Roëll, at the University of Franeker. A Latin dissertation at the University of Duisburg in 1711, on the nature of God, and at least nominally against

Benedictus de Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

and Frederik van Leenhof, raised some questions about his orthodoxy. In 1717 he was a candidate for a chair at the University of Groningen, and was opposed by the theologian Antonius Driessen. Once he was given the chair, Wittichius found that Driessen continued to campaign against him, using an unauthorized Dutch translation of his Duisburg dissertation (anonymous but from the circle of Ruardus Andala); and his links to de Volder. Taco Hajo van den Honert of the University of Leiden moved in to defend Wittichius, and in the end he accepted a chair at Leiden instead. Leiden city and university now resisted outside pressure from Rotterdam in particular.

Johann Franz Buddeus Johann Franz Buddeus or Budde (sometimes Johannes Franciscus Buddeus; 25 June 1667, Anklam – 19 November 1729, Gotha (town), Gotha) was a German people, German Lutheran theologian and philosopher. Life Johann Franz Buddeus was a descendant ...

intervened, getting the Jena theology faculty to assert that the views of Wittichius were close to those of Spinoza and Abraham Joannes Cuffeler. Wittichius was comprehensively attacked in a pamphlet by Jacobus Leydekker in 1719. His position became a matter of wide discussion in the United Provinces; he defended himself by analogy with

Johannes Bredenburg Johannes Bredenburg (1643–1691) was a Rotterdam wine merchant and weaver who was a member of the Collegiants. The philosopher Spinoza had joined the Collegiants and his ideas became the source of a division in the membership so that they broke i ...

, and arguing that Cartesianism was effective against Spinozism.Israel, p, 439-43. Wittichius went on in combative fashion in his inaugural oration, with praise for Francis Bacon and

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

, blame for the approach in philosophy of Gisbertus Voetius, employing Cartesian terminology, and making an allusion to Spinoza's '' Ethics''. He continued to attack the views of Driessen and the Roëll family.

References

* Jonathan I. Israel (2001), ''The Radical Enlightenment''.

Notes

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittichius, Jacobus 1677 births 1738 deaths 18th-century Dutch philosophers University of Franeker alumni Academic staff of the University of Groningen People from Aachen