Heretics!: The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy

by Steven Nadler, Ben Nadler

This entertaining and enlightening graphic narrative tells the exciting story of the seventeenth-century thinkers who challenged authority--sometimes risking excommunication, prison, and even death--to lay the foundations of modern philosophy and science and help usher in a new world. With masterful storytelling and color illustrations, Heretics! offers a unique introduction to the birth of modern thought in comics form--smart, charming, and often funny.

These contentious and controversial philosophers--from Galileo and Descartes to Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Newton--fundamentally changed the way we look at the world, society, and ourselves, overturning everything from the idea that the Earth is the center of the cosmos to the notion that kings have a divine right to rule. More devoted to reason than to faith, these thinkers defended scandalous new views of nature, religion, politics, knowledge, and the human mind.

Heretics! tells the story of their ideas, lives, and times in a vivid new way. Crisscrossing Europe as it follows them in their travels and exiles, the narrative describes their meetings and clashes with each other--as well as their confrontations with religious and royal authority. It recounts key moments in the history of modern philosophy, including the burning of Giordano Bruno for heresy, Galileo's house arrest for defending Copernicanism, Descartes's proclaiming cogito ergo sum, Hobbes's vision of the "nasty and brutish" state of nature, and Spinoza's shocking Theological-Political Treatise.

A brilliant account of one of the most brilliant periods in philosophy, Heretics! is the story of how a group of brave thinkers used reason and evidence to triumph over the authority of religion, royalty, and antiquity.

Genres: Philosophy, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, History, Comics, Science, Historical

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2017

About the author

Steven Nadler is the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. His books include Rembrandt's Jews, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Spinoza: A Life, which won the Koret Jewish Book Award; and A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age (Princeton).

Reviews

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 17th Century produced a multitude of free thinkers. Philosophers were no longer devoted to the writings of Aristotle and Plato. These "heretics" were determined to seek explanations for occurrences based upon reason, hypotheses and evidence.

Galileo, an astronomer, built a telescope to examine the nighttime sky. He ascertained that the moon's surface was not smooth. He viewed dark spots moving across the sun. In 1632, condemned by the church, Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest for defending the Heliocentric Theory of Copernicus. Galileo's book, explaining that the earth was not the center of the cosmos but a planet orbiting the sun, was banned.

Most philosophers believed that "blind fealty" needed to questioned. Descartes, a devotee of meteorology, published an essay stating that rainbows were not a sign from God but rather light passing through water droplets in the sky.

In the late 1600's, Leibniz's discourse on metaphysics explored the theory that although the number of possible worlds were infinite, God created the best world for us. To explain misfortune, plagues and earthquakes, he surmised that we could not experience joy without understanding sadness.

"Heretics! The Wondrous (And Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy" by Steven and Ben Nadler is a fact-filled entertaining book. Many philosophers populate this tome including Bruno, Bacon, Spinoza, Hobbes,Newton and Lady Anne Conway, to name a few. Many of the writings were banned in the 17th Century by The Vatican Index of Prohibited Books. The "heretics" persevered. They hypothesized, experimented, tested and revised in order to view and define the world anew.

Thank you Princeton University Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Heretics!"

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

سنت شکنان، با معرفی برخی متفکران و فیلسوفان، به ساده ترین و فشرده ترین شکل ممکن و البته نسبتا جالب، سیر تحول و گذر از فلسفه ی قرون وسطایی به سمت فلسفه مدرن رو شرح میده..

[°•.Melina°•. · Rating 4 out of 5]

خوانش صوتی/⭐️3.5
«وقتی در نظر میگیرم که کسانی چون نیوتون، جان لاک و لاینیتس در فرانسه مورد آزار و اذیت قرار گرفتند و در روم به زندان افتادند، و در لیسبون سوزانده شدند، باید در مورد عقل انسان چه فکری کنیم؟»

یه کتاب جامع و جمع و جور که با لحن گفتگو و جالبی-که حتی برای کودک و نوجوان خیلی مناسبش میکنه-درمورد عقاید مختلف فیلسوفان و مخترعان رو شرح میده که تو زمان خودشون کافر و زندونی محسوب میشدن...
حتما باید یک دور دیگه گوش بدمش🌟

[Shhhhh Ahhhhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular work, putting dry and often unattractively abstract ideas into the graphic novel format. I especially appreciate the ways that this work outlined the logical limitations of each of the philosophers covered as they attempted to reason out the nature of reality and our physical (/metaphysical) place in it. Spinoza, especially, seems to have been close to an empirically accurate view of the world, save for the bit about politics that did not seem to logically follow from his own position on free will not existing. All in all, I'm glad we have more evidence to root this sort of thinking into now.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The foundations of modern philosophy are examined through the lens of those deemed 'heretical' and a threat to the status quo: Galileo, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Newton (and others) were cornerstones in so many of the scientific 'truths' we now accept - but what they had to go through to defend the ideas they had is a good lesson for everyone in this age of 'viral truths'.

[Ariyan Abidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

يه كتاب خيلى كوتاه كه سعى كرده تو ١٠٠ صفحه فيلسوف هاى قرن ١٧ و عقايدشون رو معرفى كنه.
و به هيچ وجه به درد حرفه اى ها نميخوره.
ولى براى خود من مفيد بود.
بين فلاسفه اى كه تو كتاب بودن
عقايد اسپينوزا در مورد خدا و معجزات خيلى به دلم نشست.👇

🔻خدا همان طبيعت است. و چيزى در طبيعت اتفاق نمى افتد كه با قوانين كلى آن در تعارض باشد.
🔻و آنچه ما معجزه مى ناميم، فقط رويدادى است كه علت طبيعى آن را هنوز كشف نكرده ايم.

[Sophie Lucido · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible account of history, wonderfully illustrated.

[J.M. Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to receive a copy from netgalley to review. This is a wonderful book about the beginnings of philosophy and even early ideas in science. From Bruno in 1600 all the way to Voltaire this book covers many of the philosophers we know. I do admit I was not a complete fan of illustrations especially the incorrect portrayal of Galileo dropping spheres from the Tower of Pisa which never happened.

[Carin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful introduction to the topic.

[Marta Xambre · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐
Gostei do humor e gostei das ilustrações.
A premissa do livro é bastante interessante e original.
O resto... O problema não é do livro, é verdadeiramente meu!! 🙄😊

[Murat Dural · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amacına ulaşmış, felsefeyi başka bir sanatın aracılığıyla (çizgi roman) güzel ortaya koymuş bir eser. Aslında dört yıldız vermeyi düşündüm ama bu düşünce kitaptan kaynaklanmıyordu. Böylesi güzel bir eserin önceki ya da sonraki dönemleri de aynı formda aktaran devamları, öncülleri olmalıydı. Alfa Yayınları'nın sitesini inceledim. Bu seri ile ilgili bilgi bulamamakla birlikte genel felsefe kitaplarında da bir düzen görünmüyor. Dağınık. Umarım bu ve bunun gibi anlatılar, eserler çıkmaya devam eder. Burada eseri çeviren Abdullah Yılmaz'ı da tebrik etmek lazım. Çok güzel akan diyaloglar ve metin var.

[Aida · Rating 2 out of 5]

End.1401/11/9
من کتاب صوتیش رو گوش دادم و خیلی خوب بود گویندگی ولی خود داستان چندان برام جالب نبود.
بنطرم اگه به فلسفه و اینجورچیزها علاقه دارید برید بخونید و گرنه خوشتون نمیاد.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel introduction to early philosophy is truly excellent. I found it new at the library last week, and it was perfect timing, because I'm in the first weeks of a philosophy class for college. I am a visual learner, and this book helped me better understand the metaphysical ideas abstractly presented in class reading. This isn't an illustrated textbook, however; it's a true graphic novel. The writing and art are sublime together, and I like how playful, inventive, and cheeky the book is while still taking history seriously. This book is informative, engaging, and appropriate for all ages.

[Williwaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read an excerpt of this book in the magazine, Nautilus. The excerpt contained a witty summary of Leibniz's theory of the "best of all possible worlds," which was later (unfairly, I discovered) trashed by Voltaire in his parody, Candide. The wit of this book comes primarily through the drawings. One of my favorite images is a group of "possible worlds" sitting in a waiting room, getting ready for their auditions with God. They are lined up, sitting on a bench, with their arms and legs dangling from their globe-shaped, but nevertheless anthropomorphic bodies. Leibniz is sharing the bench, to their right. A clock is ticking overhead on the wall. From a nearby office with its door ajar comes the voice of God: "Next!"

One thing that's clear from this book is that three "philosophers" from the 17th century continue to influence our thinking quite powerfully, even to this day: Descartes, Newton, and Locke. (I put "philosophers" in quotes because nowadays most people would call Newton a scientist. But the lines of demarcation were not so sharp back then.) From Descartes we inherited the dualistic notion that mind and body are utterly separate; from Newton we inherited the notion of "absolute space,"; and from Lock we inherited the notions of "natural law" and the mind as a "blank slate." All these ideas are probably wrong but have persisted in the popular mind despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

Based upon what I read here, it's unclear to me why brilliant philosophers like Leibniz and Spinoza did not have more lasting impact on the direction of Western thought. Based on the rudimentary introductions to their works in this book, they produced compelling and insightful bodies of work that are worthy of our consideration even today.

Other philosophers with whom I was not familiar appear in this book: Antoine Arnaud, Anne Conway, and Pierre Gassendi, to name just three examples. All three grappled with Cartesian dualism (the mind/body split) and either offered trenchant criticisms or proposed solutions.

Overall, this book seemed to be an enticing introduction to 17th century philosophy and showed how it is still relevant today. Readers won't get a deep understanding, but it might just inspire them to pull Spinoza (or Leibniz, or maybe even Anne Conway) off the shelf.

A certain acquaintance of mine once claimed that the universe is divided into two categories only: "think-space," and "meat-space." I sure hope that he will read this book and see that several prominent philosophers took issue with this Cartesian straitjacket, and not without good reason.

A note on the art work: it's at the level of a Dilbert cartoon. If you are thinking of buying the book, don't expect it to be pretty. What saves the art, as I mentioned above, is the wit behind it.

[Hoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one if you want to start somewhere!
Too light-hearted for what I expected, but still a fun read. Managed to make me want to read almost every book mentioned :D

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice overview of the ideas of 17th century philosophers and scientists. (The distinction barely existed then, and even today isn't clear-cut.) Doesn't go into great amounts of detail on any of them, but works well as an overview, much better than one might expect from a "comic". Some of their ideas seem ridiculous today, at least to me, but other of their ideas remain influential. One of the authors is an expert on Spinoza, but he gets no more emphasis here than any of the others. If any one person gets more detail than the others, it is probably Leibniz, many of whose ideas are utterly insane to me.

Trigger warning: atheism

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny book, the narrative of Heretics! is woven so as to accommodate an amusing, accessible and tangible account of the key metaphysical preoccupations of 17/18 century European and English philosophy. The striking visual setting of the comic genre coupled with Nadler's writing, the characters's conversational exchange of ideas and occasional squabble make for a mostly enjoyable ride.

The graphic narrative form coushins the reader and does a great job of making presentable material that might, on its own, seem uninviting, boring and dry.

[IzamaRi H. Fabela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al leer esta novela gráfica no puedo más que pensar que la iglesia siempre ha jodido las cosas. Si fuera por ellos aún seríamos unos trogloditas fáciles de manipular.
Menos mal que a largo de los siglos hemos tenido varios "herejes" quienes se negaron a dejarse intimidar y nos sacaron de esa era de oscuridad.

[Pavol Hardos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun & engaging but not even comics can make Descartes & Leibniz interesting

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reseña completa en Sweet Darkness: https://goo.gl/k761ej

La filosofía suele ser tomada como algo aburrido, pero yo siempre he pensado que el hombre, tarde o temprano, busca desarrollar su propia filosofía para comprender su existir. Es algo natural, es parte de nuestra vida.

Gracias a ella el hombre genera su propio pensamiento y no se vuelve un simple borrego siguiendo todo lo que se le dice que haga o que piense y, por ello, ayudar a mejorar nuestra sociedad…

Este libro recopila los diversos pensamientos de algunos de los personajes más importantes de esta rama a partir del siglo XVII. Lo agradable es que nos expone sus filosofías de la forma más sencilla posible e, incluso, con viñetas graciosas de tanto en tanto.

Disfruté mucho leyendo la manera en la que se explicó la filosofía de cada uno de los llamados “Herejes” pues, como imaginarán, sus pensamientos no eran bien recibidos en la época que fueron concebidos y, por lo tanto, obtuvieron títulos como ese.

Gracias a todas estas filosofías, llegué a muchas conclusiones respecto al pensamiento del ser humano; así que puedo decir que se trata de un libro dinámico e intuitivo para todo aquel que haya tenido alguna vez alguno de estos tipos de pensamiento pues, estoy segura, se sentirán identificados con uno o varios de ellos.

Respecto a las ilustraciones, me parecieron muy agradables a la vista. Hay viñetas que incluso son graciosas o contienen algún tipo de ironía o simbolismo referente a la teoría que se está explicando; así que, no son solo dibujos que adornan el contexto y que resulte atractivo para la lectura, si no que en realidad apoyan mucho al texto.

Conclusión
Si les agrada la filosofía, este libro les brindará un acercamiento sencillo, intuitivo y dinámico para comprender a algunos de los pensadores del siglo XVII. Igualmente, disfrutarán de las imágenes de cada viñeta y la forma en que se hilan los pensamientos. Una lectura que, podría no parecerlo, pero es en suma interesante y los llevará a darse cuenta, cuando menos lo esperen, que se encuentran debatiendo mentalmente con estos filósofos.

[Michael Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

i Heretics! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy by the father-son duo Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler tells the history of scientific thought in the 17th century. Overall, good introduction to the topic, but the format is not used to full potential. 


++/- Following the heights of Catholic church abuses and the horrors of the Inquisition, the 17th century set the philosophical and practical foundations of modern science. The story follows 18 key characters, and in particular Bacon, Descartes, Galileo, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Pascal, and Netwon. The chronology and the story are clear, but some of the explanations fall short due to the choice of using seemingly original formulations which by now seem outdated and cumbersome. 


+/- There is very little plot. The authors do show that the ideas caused rumour in the society and led to philosophical disputes across Western Europe, and they do emphasize the opposition mounted by the church, but the tone is light and the information of less detail than when presenting the main philosophical ideas. The authors could have emphasized more this interplay. 


+/-- The format used in this book is based on traditional comics. The core layout is 2 columns by 3 rows per page, with the occasional merging of two adjacent cells. This is promising, but also very common today and in this sense rather dull. There is no exceptional panel, double-spread, or exciting layout invention; this is no Chris Ware (author of the super-panel, of Jimmy Corrigan, Building Stories, and - the latest - Monograph renown), Moebius (author of the graphics funk/cyberpunk look of The Incal and Arzach), or Inio Asano and Shigeru Mizuki (slice-of-life manga mixing realistic and fantastic drawings). 


+ The graphic style is derived from Herge's clear line. Unfortunately, the intention of adding a modern take does not seem successful. The coloring is dull, and the special inversion effects and strong contrasts (a bit of De Stijl, maybe), plus rhe various adornments (e.g., line-thin indications of light effects in the hair) are more confusing than revealing. This contrasts with the book's stated goal of explaining (the history of human thought). 


--- Perhaps the most important missed opportunity here is the relationship between the philosophical and historical content, and the graphical format. The story fails to build on the strengths of the medium, one that is particularly good at illustrating abstract concepts, and surely more so than movies. The graphics are inadequate for this type of book, and perhaps a simpler, minimalist take in the style of Guy Delisle, or a grittier style approaching Joe Sacco would have been better. After all, these styles were able to carry through many examples of graphic journalism, to which the narrative of this book seems close. 

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heretics, by Steven and Ben Nadler, is a nearly 200-page graphic run-through of, as the subtitle says, “The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy”. More specifically, it covers the writings/arguments of Seventeenth Century figures, including but not limited to: Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Anne Conway, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Leibniz, John Locke, Nicolas Malebranche, Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal, and Bento Spinoza. It’s an engaging and informative exploration and one I highly recommend as a starting off point for anyone interested in the particular topic or history in general, as so much of what they wrote on rippled outward to large social/political/religion effect.

On the offhand chance someone might misconstrue the graphic form of the novel as being an overly-simplified version of philosophy for kids, the authors quickly disabuse readers of that possibility in the introduction, where they toss around words like paradigm, epistemology, metaphysics, and scholastic. Not to mention that the opening image once one reads the intro is of Giordano Bruno being burns at the stake. Not then a book for children.

What follows is an excellent job of explaining concisely in clear, precise language the major contributions of the above thinkers to the philosophies of their time, the ways in which they built on the ideas of those who came before, whether that be expanding on them, furthering them, or rejecting them. As for the visuals, because philosophy is by its nature abstract, the illustrations I’d say only occasionally add greater understanding. Certainly they carry less illustrative (in the education meaning of the word) content and effect than, say, illustrations in a physics text. Instead, they’re often more entertaining than explanatory, but with such weighty topics, there’s something to be said for entertainment and for the humor they bring to the table.

Text and visuals work well therefore in tandem to create a wonderful learning experience, and were I teaching philosophy or history in college or high school I would absolutely consider using this as a text for the class to give my students a solid basic grounding before moving on to a more in-depth look. Recommended.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

If all you know of Calvin and Hobbs is that it was a comic strip, rather than who the two men were, then this book could be for you. If all you know of Issic Newton was the apple falling on his head, and not his philosophical background, this book could be for you. And if all you ever wondered where Candid came up with the idea of this world being the best of all possible worlds, then you should read this book to see where it all came form.

It is done as a graphic novel, which makes it very accessible, and easy to understand, in as much as philosophy is easy to understand. It is hard, sometimes, to think of a time when the church had all the authority, and to not agree with them would brand you as a heretic, thus the name of the book.

Things such as free will, the divine right of kings, and anarchy are all discussed.

Very weighty graphic novel, but interesting to have things written (or drawn out) for easier consumption.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Susan K Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a fun idea to take some of the most complex ideas in all of philosophy and turn them into a graphic (comic) book. It seems to me that Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler did a very pleasing job of leading the reader from page to page, each famous philosopher's great ideas leading to the next (either building on them or opposed utterly to them). Obviously, not all of a reader's (my) questions were answered, but it is so easy these days to pursue any question and go more deeply into that subject.

There's a wryness to both the words and images. Any young reader will learn both how far we've come as a society, and how much our forerunners risked when simply telling the truth as they understood it. Science and philosophy are so intertwined, and this book makes that plain. It would also be a fun way to review all that groundbreaking thinking that happened in the seventeenth century.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

a graphic narrative...what a surprise! Because of the format, I had trouble adjusting my reading to do the subject matter justice. It covers many centuries and many philosophers and scientists devoted to teasing out some very subtle differences in thinking. I found it difficult to avoid skimming and dwelling on the artwork and as a result missed much of the meat of the topic. Probably just a matter of personal tAste. A clever approach to a generally dry and complex topic.

[Matthew Noe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. I loved this and would recommend it as a text for an intro level course. There are a few unclear panels though (some folks can look a little too similar in drawing) that need more effort than they should to read.

[Gunner · Rating 3 out of 5]

As all narratives necessarily do, there is a bias in the telling. The book appears to portray religion as being opposed to developing philosophical discourse and scientific advances- this is especially apparent at the end. While certainly there were conflicts involving the church during the time periods covered, that is undeniable, it is reductionistic to say they were only about these ideas. A number of factors were involved primary the radical political and social changes. That's not in any way to say the western church is innocent, merely that it was a far more complicated situation then religion opposing intellectual "progress"- point of fact, many of the philosophers and early scientists were devout in faith as well. This is not an attack on the book, as I said all narratives are necessarily painted with biases but it is important to recognize them.

Now you may have noticed I placed "progress" in quotation marks in the above paragraph; which tends to give off the impression that I'm repeating an idea asserted by another that I disagree with- this was intentional. Herein lies my one critique of the book- it mischaracterizes the develop meant of philosophical ideas in such a manner as to incorrectly give the impression that subsequent philosophers critiqued prior ideas and they were abandoned. This is not true, ideas and arguments from the past are still imminently relevant to philosophy and you can find proponents of virtually all schools of thought. While this misrepresentation appears to be implicit throughout, it is of course most evident at the end in which "Descartes is remembered as a dreamer and Newton as a sage". This is simply untrue, Cartesian philosophy is still relevant and (in certain limited respects) plausibly true. Other examples of this misguided portrayal of linear progression is the political philosophy shown- Hobbesian social contract theory neither fully supplanted the divine right of king's notion nor was fully supplanted by subsequent social contract ideas (e.g. Locke's).

One thing I think the book did a good job of doing was demonstrating the intrinsic philosophical presuppositions of science as well as philosophical influence on it. In an age of scientism, this is a welcomed reminder.

All in all a good book: 3.5 star rating if that were possible on Goodreads.

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of early science, philosophy, and political theory from the major thinkers of the 17th century. I enjoyed the "engaging, playful graphics" (Ivan Brunetti) that made this graphic novel more humorous, relatable, and understandable. I started this in 2019 since it was mentioned in my Modern Philosophy class, and in the second half now, it was interesting to read more about how John Locke and Isaac Newton expanded beyond the ideas of Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza. Hearing about other figures like Lady Anne Conway, Malebranche, and Arnauld was interesting, too--it shows how humanity 's quest for knowledge is a conversation, and everyone is contributing something by commenting on others' theories and essays. Really cool to see how thinkers added lots of food for thought and new pieces of the puzzle to the conversation, even when some of their theories strayed off topic or lacked knowledge (like Newton discovered gravity but apparently didn't know precisely why bodies attract each other, but just knew that they do--and we know now it's because of mass). The Nadlers did a great job communicating complex ideas in this graphic novel!

[Jacca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s like A Dummy’s guide to the wave of 17th Century philosophers. All your favourites pop up like Descartes and Newton as well as an ensemble cast of lesser talked about ponderers. Each figure is given a spotlight to explain briefly their beliefs or hypotheses and how that fit into the period and their peers. It’s quite nicely done.
The cartoons, illustrated by the author’s son, are nice but often don’t serve to add to the text beyond something fun to fill the pages with. Which I think is ultimately fair enough but does make you wonder what the point is, to make it more appealing to younger or less interested audiences I suppose.
Well it worked on me; pretty pictures made me read all about philosophers in the 1600s.

[Atarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avinoam and I agreed that this may be the best into to Modern Philosophy textbook ever.