Spinoza in Rijnsburg

Spinoza moved away from the distractions of city life in Amsterdam to be able to concentrate on the formidable challenge he had set himself: the development of a complete metaphysical system based on rigorous logic.

His 'Short Treatise on God, Man and his Well-Being' was almost certainly written at Rijnsburg, as was most of his analysis of Descartes' philosophy, which he transposed into a sort of conceptual geometry.

It was here that Spinoza began work on his 'Ethics', the masterwork which has made him perhaps the greatest of Enlightenment philosophers.

Although he must have led a distinctly quiet life, he wrote regularly not only to his friends in Amsterdam but also to a series of distinguished correspondents that included Oldenburg, Huygens and Boyle.

Spinoza's almost hermit-like existence had its practical side as well; he was rapidly gaining a reputation in Europe as a dangerous radical, more than a little odd and definitely not acceptable in polite society.

Despite this, friends persuaded him to publish his work on Descartes, which was launched on an unsuspecting public in 1663, together with an appendix 'Metaphysical Thoughts'.

In the same year, Spinoza moved to Voorburg, very near The Hague...