Descartes Centre Colloquium with Enoch Chow (Westminster Theological Seminary USA)

Beyond the Dutch Border:  The Reception of Utrecht's Anti-Cartesian Polemics in Germany

From 1641 onward, the philosophy of René Descartes provoked intense controversies at major European universities, particularly at Utrecht and throughout the Netherlands. The debates at Utrecht were especially prominent, producing key Cartesian and Anti-Cartesian texts of the period. While scholars have focused on the engagement of the Utrecht professors with Descartes and his thought locally within the Netherlands, their insights can be extended further into the international university context. In particular, there is evidence that the German Lutherans interacted with the writings of the Utrecht faculty members. 

This short presentation focuses on the reception of Anti-Cartesian writings by the late-seventeenth-to early-eighteenth-century Lutherans in the German academic context, paying attention to their engagement with methodological doubt and the relationship between theology and philosophy. It will first briefly consider the German university context and the Dutch influence. It will then analyze how these Anti-Cartesian writings from Utrecht were received in Germany, using examples from Leipzig and Rostock. By focusing on these two examples, this presentation demonstrates that Lutheran theologians employed the polemical arguments of Utrecht faculty members to defend their orthodox theology against Cartesian innovations and the advancements of his followers.

The presentation will be followed by comments from Jo Spaans (Religious studies UU), Richard Calis (Cultural history and University history UU) and Dirk van Miert (History of Knowledge from a Digital Perspective UU)

Short biography
Enoch Chow is a PhD student in Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, PA. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto (BA) and Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div). His research focuses on the critical dialogue between philosophy and theology, specifically examining the reception of the works of Descartes and his followers within Protestant circles. Enoch lives in Philadelphia, PA, with his wife Elizabeth.