Editing Baruch Spinoza (section)

===Education and study group===
Sometime between 1654 and 1657, Spinoza started studying Latin with political radical [[Franciscus van den Enden]], a former [[Jesuit]] and atheist, who likely introduced Spinoza to scholastic and modern philosophy, including Descartes, who had a dominant influence on Spinoza's philosophy.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=129-30}} While boarding with Van den Enden, Spinoza studied in his school, where he learned the arts and sciences and likely taught others.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=125-26}}{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=229-30}} Many of his friends were either secularized freethinkers or belonged to dissident Christian groups that rejected the authority of established churches and traditional dogmas.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=342}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=164}} Spinoza was acquainted with members of the [[Collegiants]], a group of disaffected [[Mennonite]]s and other dissenting Reformed sects that shunned official theology and must have played some role in Spinoza's developing views on religion and directed him to Van Enden.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=168}} [[Jonathan Israel]] conjectures that another possible influential figure was atheist translator [[Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker]], a collaborator of Spinoza's friend and publisher Rieuwertsz, who could not have mentored Spinoza but was in a unique position to introduce Spinoza to Cartesian philosophy, mathematics, and lens grinding.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=338-39}}

After learning Latin with Van Enden, Spinoza studied at [[Leiden University]] around 1658,{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=184}} where he audited classes in Cartesian philosophy.{{efn|[[Steven Nadler]] speculates that Spinoza Latinized his name at Leiden because all instruction was in Latin.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=193}}}} From 1656 to 1661, Spinoza's main discussion partners who formed his circle and played a formative part in Spinoza's life were Van den Enden, {{ill|Pieter Balling|nl||it}}, Jarig Jelles, [[Lodewijk Meyer]], [[Johannes Bouwmeester]] and [[Adriaan Koerbagh]].{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=333-38}} Spinoza's following, or philosophical sect,{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=322}} scrutinized the propositions of the ''Ethics'' while it was in draft and Spinoza's second text, ''Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being''.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=330}} Though a few prominent people in Amsterdam discussed the teachings of the secretive but marginal group, it was mainly a testing ground for Spinoza's philosophy to extend his challenge to the status quo.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=350}} Their public reputation in Amsterdam was negative, with [[Ole Borch]] disparaging them as "atheists".{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=344}} Throughout his life, Spinoza's general approach was to avoid intellectual battles, clashes, and public controversies, viewing them as a waste of energy that served no real purpose.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=343}}