De kunst van het weldenken: Lekenfilosofie en volkstalig rationalisme in de Nederlanden (1550-1600)

During the second half of the sixteenth century, the share and importance of writings in the Dutch vernacular grew. Some of these texts proclaim a vision of life strongly based on what Coornhert calls ‘the sparking of the Godly Light’: reason in which every person participates and which enables every person to obtain true knowledge and a sincere life. These authors thus made an important contribution to an intellectual and cultural climate in which radical forms of rationalism could emerge later in the seventeenth century. Their work reflects a dynamic mixture of classical philosophy, vernacular humanism, enlightened Christianity, intellectual spiritualism and pragmatic popular piety. Their starting points are human goodness and the possibility of moral growth through reasonable knowledge. Their goal is to achieve perfect happiness.