17th century in philosophy

This is a timeline of philosophy in the 17th century.

Events

Queen Christina (at the table on the right) in discussion with French philosopher René Descartes (romanticized painting from the 19th century).

• 1633 – The Roman Inquisition finds Galileo “vehemently suspect of heresy" after he defended heliocentricism, challenging traditional Aristotelian cosmology.
• 1649 – Christina, Queen of Sweden invited René Descartes to educate her in his philosophical views, particularly his insight into Catholicism.
• 1660 – The Royal Society in the United Kingdom is established after a meeting at Gresham College of 12 natural philosophers who decide to commence a "Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning.”

Publications

• Monita Politico-Moralia et Icon Ingeniorum by Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro
• Pensées by Blaise Pascal
• Discours de Métaphysique by Gottfried Leibniz
• Brevis Demonstratio Erroris Memorabilis Cartesii et Aliorum Circa Legem Naturae by Gottfried Leibniz
• Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Issac Newton
• Tenure of Kings and Magistrates by John Milton
• Some Reflections Upon Marriage by Mary Astell
• Animadversiones by Pierre Gassendi
• Les Passions de l'âme by René Descartes
• Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Births

• 1600 – Elizabeth Foxcroft, English theosophist.
• 1601 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish Jesuit and Baroque prose writer and philosopher.
• 1603 – Kenelm Digby, English courtier, diplomat and natural philosopher.
• 1605 – Thomas Browne, polymath.
• 1607 – Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal, philosopher, theologian, literary theorist, and church historian.
• 1607 – Anna Maria van Schurman, Dutch painter, engraver, poet, classical scholar, philosopher, and feminist writer.
• 1612 – Antoine Arnauld, French Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician.
• 1614 – Henry More, English philosopher.
• 1614 – John Wilkins, English Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher, and author
• 1617 – Ralph Cudworth, English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian, and philosopher.
• 1618 – Jacques Rohault, French philosopher, physicist, and mathematician.
• 1618 – John Smith, English philosopher, theologian, and educator.
• 1620 – Claude Frassen, French Franciscan Scotist theologian and philosopher.
• 1620 - François Bernier, French physician and traveller.
• 1622 – Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher.
• 1623 – Margaret Cavendish, English philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction writer, and playwright.
• 1623 – Blaise Pascal, French physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer.
• 1623 – William Petty, English economist, physician, scientist, and philosopher.
• 1627 – Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist, and inventor.
• 1627 – Hugh Binning, Scottish philosopher and theologian.
• 1630 – Ann Conway, English philosopher.
• 1632 – John Locke, English philosopher and physician.
• 1632 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher, theologian, author, and political scientist.
• 1632 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian.
• 1632 – Louis de La Forge, French philosopher.
• 1632 – Pierre-Sylvain Régis, French philosopher.
• 1633 – Walda Heywat, Ethiopian philosopher.
• 1634 – Balthasar Bekker, Dutch minister, philosopher, theologian.
• 1637/38 – Richard Burthogge, physician, magistrate and philosopher.
• 1638 – Nicolas Malebranche, French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher.
• 1642 – Isaac Newton, English polymath.
• 1647 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher, author, and lexicographer.
• 1649 – Samuel Bold, English clergyman and controversialist.
• 1649 – Samuel Johnson, English clergyman and political writer.
• 1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher.
• 1659 – Damaris Cudworth Masham, English writer, philosopher, theologian, and proto-feminist.
• 1661 – René-Joseph de Tournemine, French Jesuit philosopher and theologian.
• 1661 – Claude Buffier, French philosopher, historian, and teacher.
• 1665 – Ingeborg i Mjärhult, Swedish natural healer, natural philosopher, soothsayer and spiritual visionary.
• 1665 – Richard Bentley, English classical scholar, critic, and theologian.
• 1665 – Peter Browne, Irish Anglican priest.
• 1668 – Giambattista Vico, Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist.
• 1670 – Bernard Mandeville, Anglo-Dutch philosopher, political economist, satirist, writer and physician.
• 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English peer, Whig politician, philosopher, and writer.
• 1675 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher.
• 1675 – Yves Marie André, French Jesuit mathematician, philosopher, and essayist.
• 1678 – Robert Greene, English philosopher.
• 1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher.
• 1679 – Firmin Abauzit, French philosopher.
• 1685 – George Berkeley, Anglo-Irish philosopher.
• 1686 – John Balguy, English divine and philosopher.
• 1692 – Joseph Butler, English Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher.

Deaths

• 1642 – Galileo Galilei, Italian polymath.
• 1649 – Caspar Schoppe, German catholic controversialist and scholar.
• 1677 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher
• 1662 – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and philosopher.
• 1675 – Emanuele Tesauro, Italian philosopher, rhetorician, literary theorist, dramatist, Marinist poet, and historian.
• 1699 – Edward Stillingfleet, English Christian theologian and scholar

See also

• List of centuries in philosophy

Further reading

• Daniel Garber and Michael Ayers (eds). The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. 1998. First paperback edition. 2003. Volume 2.
• Dan Kaufman (ed). The Routledge Companion to Seventeenth Century Philosophy. 2017. Google Books.
• Stuart Hampshire. The Master Philosophers: The Age of Reason: The 17th Century Philosophers. A Meridian Classic. New American Library. Meridian Books. Reprint. 1993. Google Books.
• Peter R Anstey (ed). The Oxford Handbook of British Philosophy in the Seventeenth Century. 2013. Google Books.
• Wiep Van Bunge. From Stevin to Spinoza: An Essay on Philosophy in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic. Brill. Leiden, Boston, Koln. 2001. Google Books
• José R Maia Neto. Academic Skepticism in Seventeenth-Century French Philosophy: The Charronian Legacy 1601–1662. (International Archives of the History of Ideas 215). Springer. 2014. Google Books.
• G A J Rogers, Tom Sorell and Jill Kraye (eds). Insiders and Outsiders in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy. Taylor and Francis e-Library. 2009. Routledge. 2010. Google Books.
• Ross Harrison. Hobbes, Locke, and Confusion's Masterpiece: An Examination of Seventeenth Political Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. 2003. Google Books
• Tom Sorell, G A J Rogers, Jill Kraye (eds) Scientia in Early Modern Philosophy: Seventeenth-Century Thinkers on Demonstrative Knowledge from First Principles. (Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 24). Springer. 2010. Google Books.
• Susan James. Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-century Philosophy. Clarendon Press. Reprinted 1999. Google Books.
• Jacqueline Broad. Women Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge University Press. 2003. Google Books.
• Henry Hallam. Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries. John Murray. Ablemarle Street, London. 1839. Volume 4. Chapter 3 ("History of Speculative Philosophy from 1650 to 1700"). Page 182 et seq.