Place
Amsterdam
The freest city in seventeenth-century Europe. Descartes lived here for privacy. Spinoza was born and excommunicated here. Locke found refuge here during exile. Its tolerance made modern philosophy possible.
Thinkers Connected to Amsterdam
Descartes
I think, therefore I am. He doubted everything until he found one thing he could not doubt: the fact that he was doubting.
Spinoza
God and Nature are the same thing. He was excommunicated for saying it, ground lenses to earn a living, and published his masterwork after he died.
John Locke
The mind begins as a blank slate. All knowledge comes from experience. He wrote the philosophy that launched modern democracy.