Baruch spinoza: Democracy and freedom of speech

Abstract

Baruch Spinoza (also known as Benedictus de Spinoza) lived from 1632 to 1677 in the United Provinces of the Netherlands (a federal republic existing during the years 1581–1795, the forerunner of what is today know as the Netherlands). Europe in the mid-1600s was plagued with confl ict and strife amongst Lutherans, Calvinists and Catholics. Minorities were persecuted in most countries. The states were developing in an absolutist direction, severely limiting the citizens’ freedom of faith. The Dutch Calvinist bourgeoisie of The United Netherlands had amassed considerable social power through extensive international trade, having only recently cast off Spanish and Catholic dominance. The Netherlands had quickly become the richest state in Europe, with Europe’s largest merchant fl eet, and Amsterdam had established itself as the centre of the European economy. The Dutch bourgeoisie contributed to the building of a more tolerant climate, and the United Netherlands quickly became the country to which persecuted Europeans fled.