I work mainly in early modern philosophy and history of philosophy, with a special interest in the ways in which religion and politics intersect. Thematically, my field of research encompasses the so-called ‘theological-political problem’: the confrontation between reason and revelation and the various epistemological, ethical and political ramifications it entails. I study how ‘modern’ innovatores like Machiavelli, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Locke, and Hume all struggled with the question of how to vindicate God and religion within the framework of a new ‘natural’ world. 

Spinoza and Spinozism have consistently formed the backbone of my work. I have published on various aspects of Spinozism–ranging from metaphysics and epistemology to ethics and politics–including Spinoza’s commentaries on Francis Bacon, Quakerism, Christ, and the religious sects and movements of seventeenth-century Holland in which he moved. My research activities reveal interest in investigating neglected intellectual currents and manuscripts capable of promoting understanding of the practice and development of philosophy and theology in the early modern period. More recently, this focus on evaluating historiography and offering a fresh perspective on iconic early modern philosophers has led me to explore Spinoza’s relationship with Erasmus.