A Dutch philosopher of Sephardi/Portuguese origin. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy (<a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza>Wikipedia</a>).

A Dutch philosopher of Sephardi/Portuguese origin. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy (<a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza>Wikipedia</a>).