The first European atheist: Matthias Knutzen (c.1646 – after 1674)
GUEST LECTURE BY DR. JÜRGEN BEYER (Visiting scholar at the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Utrecht) - In the second half of the seventeenth century ‘atheism’ was a frequently used label for a wide range of ideas and practices. Very few persons would outright deny the existence of any supernatural beings, and even fewer would do so publicly and in their proper name. Matthias Knutzen is generally considered to have been the first atheist of this kind. He presented his views in three handwritten tracts which he spread at Jena University in 1674 before disappearing from sight.
TIME: 11:00 hours PLACE: VU HG-0G11 (Filosofenhof) - Klik op onderstaande link voor een werkvertaling van een brief van Knutzen!
