Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza | |
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Born | 24 November 1632 |
Died | 21 February 1677 The Hague, Dutch Republic | (aged 44)
Other names | Benedictus de Spinoza |
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Baruch (de) Spinoza[b] (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza,[c] was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin. As a forerunner of the Age of Reason, Spinoza significantly influenced modern biblical criticism, 17th-century Rationalism, and contemporary conceptions of the self and the universe, establishing himself as one of the most important and radical philosophers of the early modern period.[15] He was influenced by Stoicism, Maimonides, Niccolò Machiavelli, René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, and a variety of heterodox Christian thinkers of his day.[16]
Spinoza was born in Amsterdam to a marrano family that had left the Iberian Peninsula for a more tolerant Amsterdam. He had a traditional education for a Jewish boy, learning Hebrew and studying the sacred texts. He was part of the wealthy Portuguese Jewish community, where his merchant immigrant father was a prominent member. As a young man, Spinoza was permanently expelled from the Jewish community for defying rabbinic authorities and disputing Jewish beliefs. After his expulsion in 1656, he did not affiliate with any religion, instead focusing on philosophical study. He had a dedicated clandestine circle of supporters, a philosophical sect, who met to discuss the writings he shared with them in his lifetime, and, immediately following his death, rescued his unpublished writings for posterity.[17]
Spinoza challenged the divine origin of the Hebrew Bible, the nature of God, and the earthly power wielded by religious authorities, Jewish and Christian alike. He was frequently called an atheist by contemporaries, although nowhere in his work does Spinoza argue against the existence of God.[18][19] This can be explained by the fact that, unlike contemporary 21st-century scholars, “when seventeenth-century readers accused Spinoza of atheism, they usually meant that he challenged doctrinal orthodoxy, particularly on moral issues, and not that he denied God’s existence."[20] His theological studies were inseparable from his thinking on politics; he is grouped with Hobbes, John Locke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant, who "helped establish the genre of political writing called secular theology."[21]
Spinoza's philosophy encompasses nearly every area of philosophical discourse, including
Biography
Family background
Spinoza's ancestors, adherents of
Spinoza's father Michael was a prominent and wealthy merchant in Amsterdam with a business that had wide geographical reach.[29] In 1649, he was elected to serve as an administrative officer of the recently united congregation Talmud Torah.[30] He married his cousin Rachael d’Espinosa, daughter of his uncle Abraham d’Espinosa, who was also a community leader and Michael's business partner.[31] Marrying cousins was common in the Portuguese Jewish community then, giving Michael access to his father-in-law's commercial network and capital.[32] Rachel's children died in infancy, and she died in 1627.[33][32]
After Rachel's death, Michael married Hannah Deborah, with whom he had five children. His second wife brought a dowry to the marriage that was absorbed into Michael's business capital instead of being set aside for her children, which may have caused a grudge between Spinoza and his father.[34] The family lived on the artificial island on the south side of the River Amstel, known as the Vlooienburg, at the fifth house along the Houtgracht canal.[23] The Jewish quarter was not formally divided. The family lived close to the Bet Ya'acov synagogue, and nearby were Christians, including the artist Rembrandt.[35] Miriam was their first child, followed by Isaac who was expected to take over as head of the family and the commercial enterprise but died in 1649.[34] Baruch Espinosa, the third child, was born on 24 November 1632 and named as per tradition for his maternal grandfather.[9]
Spinoza's younger brother Gabriel was born in 1634, followed by another sister Rebecca. Miriam married Samuel de Caceres but died shortly after childbirth. According to Jewish practice, Samuel had to marry his former sister-in-law Rebecca.[36] Following his brother's death, Spinoza's place as head of the family and its business meant scholarly ambitions were pushed aside.[29] Spinoza's mother, Hannah Deborah, died when Spinoza was six years old. Michael's third wife, Esther, raised Spinoza from age nine; she lacked formal Jewish knowledge due to growing up a New Christian and only spoke Portuguese at home. The marriage was childless.[37] Spinoza's sister Rebecca, brother Gabriel, and nephew eventually migrated to Curaçao, and the remaining family joined them after Spinoza's death.[36]
Uriel da Costa's early influence
Through his mother, Spinoza was related to the philosopher Uriel da Costa, who stirred controversy in Amsterdam's Portuguese Jewish community.[38] Da Costa questioned traditional Christian and Jewish beliefs, asserting that, for example, their origins were based on human inventions instead of God's revelation. His clashes with the religious establishment led to his excommunication twice by rabbinic authorities, who imposed humiliation and social exclusion.[39] In 1639, as part of an agreement to be readmitted, da Costa had to prostrate himself for worshippers to step over him. He died in 1640, reportedly committing suicide.[40]
During his childhood, Spinoza was likely unaware of his family connection with Uriel da Costa; still, as a teenager, he certainly heard discussions about him.[41] Steven Nadler explains that, although da Costa died when Spinoza was eight, his ideas shaped Spinoza's intellectual development. Amsterdam’s Jewish communities long remembered and discussed da Costa's skepticism about organized religion, denial of the soul's immortality, and the idea that Moses didn't write the Torah, influencing Spinoza's intellectual journey.[42]
School days and the family business
Spinoza attended the Talmud Torah school adjoining the Bet Ya'acov synagogue, a few doors down from his home, headed by the senior Rabbi
Before the First Anglo-Dutch War from 1652-1654, England's capture of Dutch boats caused the Spinoza firm to lose ships and cargo, severely affecting the business. The business was saddled with debt by the war's end from voyages ending badly and lost cargo, and pillaged ships during the war led to the firm's decline.[47][48] Spinoza's father died in 1654, making him the head of the family, responsible for organizing and leading the Jewish mourning rituals, and in a business partnership with his brother of their inherited firm.[49] As Spinoza's father had poor health for some years before his death, he was significantly involved in the business, putting his intellectual curiosity on hold.[50] Until 1656, he continued financially supporting the synagogue and attending services in compliance with synagogue conventions and practice.[51] By 1655, the family's wealth had evaporated and the business effectively ended.[50]
When his sister Rebekah disputed his inheritance seeking it for herself, he sued her to seek a court judgment, won the case, but then renounced his claim to the court's judgment in his favor and assigned his inheritance to her.
Intellectual explorations
Sometime between 1654 and 1658, Spinoza began to study Latin with
During this period, Spinoza also became acquainted with the
Expulsion from the Jewish community
Amsterdam was tolerant of religious diversity so long as it was practiced discreetly, and Jews were not legally confined to a ghetto. The community was concerned with protecting its reputation and not associating with Spinoza lest his controversial views provide the basis for possible persecution or expulsion.[58] Spinoza did not openly break with Jewish authorities until his father died in 1654 when he became public and defiant, resulting from lengthy and stressful religious, financial, and legal clashes involving his business and synagogue, such as when Spinoza violated synagogue regulations by filing suit in a civil court rather than with the synagogue authorities to free himself from paying his father's debt.[53]
On 27 July 1656, the Talmud Torah community leaders, which included Aboab de Fonseca,[59] issued a writ of herem against the 23-year-old Spinoza.[52][60] Spinoza's censure was the harshest ever pronounced in the community, carrying tremendous emotional and spiritual impact.[61] The exact reason for expelling Spinoza is not stated, only referring to his "abominable heresies", "monstrous deeds", and the testimony of witnesses "in the presence of the said Espinoza".[62] Even though the Amsterdam municipal authorities were not directly involved in Spinoza's censure itself, the town council expressly ordered the Portuguese-Jewish community to regulate their conduct and ensure that the community kept a strict observance of Jewish law.[63] Other evidence shows that the danger of upsetting the civil authorities was not far from mind, such as bans adopted by the synagogue on public weddings or funeral processions and on discussing religious matters with Christians, lest such activity might "disturb the liberty we enjoy".[64]
Before the expulsion, Spinoza had not published anything or written a treatise; if Spinoza was voicing his criticism of Judaism that later appeared through his philosophical works, such as Part I of Ethics, then there can be no wonder that he was severely punished.[65]. He might already have been voicing the view expressed later in his Theological-Political Treatise that the civil authorities should suppress Judaism as harmful to the Jews themselves. He had effectively stopped contributing to the synagogue by March 1656 because of his bleak financial situation.[66] Unlike most censures issued by the Amsterdam congregation, since the censure did not lead to repentance, it was never rescinded. After the censure, Spinoza is said to have written an Apologia in Spanish to the community leaders, defending his views and condemning the rabbis, but it is now lost.[67]
Spinoza's expulsion from the Jewish community did not lead him to convert to Christianity. Spinoza maintained a close association with the Collegiants and
Career as a philosopher
Spinoza has been called "the reticent radical", who proceeded cautiously for the next 22 years, quietly writing and studying as a private scholar.[70] He initially taught in the school of his Latin tutor, Franciscus van den Enden, with whom he boarded for a time. Later upon leaving Amsterdam, he earned a living as a lens grinder. He also received some financial assistance from supporters of his intellectual stance. After the herem, the Amsterdam municipal authorities expelled Spinoza from Amsterdam, "responding to the appeals of the rabbis, and also of the Calvinist clergy, who had been vicariously offended by the existence of a free thinker in the synagogue".
He spent a brief time in or near the village of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, where the Portuguese Jews had been allowed to buy land to establish Beth Haim, a Jewish burying ground. Spinoza's parents and grandparents are buried there. Spinoza returned soon afterward to Amsterdam and lived there quietly for several years, giving private philosophy lessons and grinding lenses, before leaving the city in 1660 or 1661.[67] During this time in Amsterdam, Spinoza wrote his Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being, which he never published in his lifetime, assuming with good reason that it might get suppressed. Two Dutch translations of it survive, discovered about 1810.[67]
In 1660 or 1661, Spinoza moved from Amsterdam to Rijnsburg (near Leiden), the center of Dutch Remonstrants known as the Collegiants.[11] In Rijnsburg, he began work on his Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy" as well as on his masterpiece, the Ethics. In 1663, he returned briefly to Amsterdam, where he finished and published Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy", the only work published in his lifetime under his own name, and then moved the same year to Voorburg.
In Voorburg, Spinoza continued work on his magnum opus, titled posthumously Ethics, and corresponded with scientists, philosophers, and theologians throughout Europe. He published in Latin, anonymously, and with false printer information Theological-Political Treatise (TTP) in 1670, in defense of secular and constitutional government, and in support of
Spinoza deliberately chose to write in Latin, which meant that his message was restricted to those learned few who knew the scholarly language. Dutch philosopher and physician, Adriaan Koerbagh attempted to publish a work in Dutch questioning the Trinity as a concept, asserted that Jesus was a human being, and that the scripture was not divinely inspired, was proposing ideas that also appear in Spinoza writings in Latin. Koerbagh's "A Flower Garden of All Sorts of Delights" in Dutch came to the attention of the authorities, who incarcerated him to be followed by exile, but he died while in prison. Spinoza did not wish to die a martyr to his ideas and exercised caution by publishing his 1670 TTP anonymously in Latin and refraining from publishing any further works. Unlike Koerbagh, Spinoza died at home in his own bed.[71]
Leibniz visited Spinoza and claimed that Spinoza's life was in danger when supporters of the Prince of Orange murdered de Witt in 1672.[72] While the TTP was published anonymously, the work did not long remain so, and de Witt's enemies characterized it as "forged in Hell by a renegade Jew and the Devil, and issued with the knowledge of Jan de Witt". It was placed on the Catholic Church's Index of Prohibited Works in 1679.[73]
In 1670, Spinoza moved to
Spinoza also corresponded with
By the beginning of the 1660s, Spinoza's name became more widely known. The Secretary of the
Lens-grinding and optics
Spinoza earned a modest living from lens-grinding and instrument making, yet he was involved in important optical investigations of the day while living in Voorburg, through correspondence and friendships with scientist
Death and rescue of his unpublished writings
Spinoza's health began to fail in 1676, and he died in The Hague on 21 February 1677 at age 44, attended by a physician friend, Georg Herman Schuller. Although he had been ill with some form of lung affliction, described as "ex phthisi [from consumption]", possibly complicated by silicosis brought on by grinding glass lenses,[85] he and everyone he lived with did not expect him to die that day, and he died without leaving a will.[86][87] There were assertions that he had repented his philosophical stances on his deathbed, but all credible evidence points to his dying unrepentant and in tranquility. Lutheran preacher Johannes Colerus wrote the first biography of Spinoza for the original reason of researching his final days.[88]
Spinoza was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) on the Spui four days after his death, on 25 February, inside the church, with six others in the same vault. At the time there was no memorial plaque for Spinoza. In the 18th century, the vault was emptied and the "remnants scattered over the earth of the churchyard." The memorial plaque visitors now see is outside, where some of his remains are part of the churchyard's soil.[89]
When he died, friends rescued his personal belongings and papers, most importantly his unpublished manuscripts. These were stored in a cabinet attached to his writing desk. His supporters swiftly took them away for safekeeping from seizure by those wishing to suppress his writings. They do not appear in the inventory of his possessions at death. Within a year of his death, his supporters translated his manuscripts written in Latin into Dutch, and subsequently into other vernacular languages. His works were banned by Dutch authorities and later the Roman Catholic Church.[90][91]
Writings
Spinoza published little in his lifetime and most of his formal writings were in Latin, which would have reached only a small number of readers. He actively told supporters not to translate his works, but following his death, his supporters published his works posthumously, in Latin and Dutch. Other translations to vulgar languages followed. A descriptive bibliography has been published that contextualizes all aspects of the publication history of Spinoza's writings from manuscript to print.[92]
The reaction to the anonymously published work, Theologico-Political Treatise (TTP)(1670), was extremely unfavorable. Spinoza abstained from publishing further, but his writings circulated among his supporters in manuscript form during his lifetime. Wary and independent, he wore a
The Ethics and all other works, apart from the Descartes' Principles of Philosophy, which was published under his own name, and the Theologico-Political Treatise, published anonymously, appeared in print after his 1677 death. The Opera Posthuma was edited by his friends in secrecy to prevent confiscation and destruction of manuscripts. The Ethics contains many still-unresolved obscurities and is written with a forbidding mathematical structure modeled on Euclid's geometry and has been described as a "superbly cryptic masterwork".[94]
Correspondence
Few letters are extant for such an important intellectual figure and none before 1661. Practically all of them are of philosophical, technical nature, since "the political and ecclesiastical persecution of the
time led the original editors of the Opera Posthuma his friends Lodewijk Meyer, Georg Hermann Schuller, and Johannes Bouwmeester—to delete personal matters and to disregard letters of a personal nature".
In a letter, written in December 1675 and sent to Albert Burgh, who wanted to defend
Philosophy
Part of a series on |
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Spinoza's philosophy is explicated in his two major publications originally written in Latin, the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (TTP) (1670) and Ethics, published posthumously in Latin and Dutch. His incomplete Tractatus Politicus was also published posthumously.
Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (TTP)
Despite its being published in Latin rather than a vernacular language, this 1670 treatise published in Spinoza's lifetime caused a huge reaction, described as "one of the most significant events in European intellectual history,"[102][103]
Ethics
The Ethics has been associated with that of Leibniz and René Descartes as part of the rationalist school of thought,[104] which includes the assumption that ideas correspond to reality perfectly, in the same way that mathematics is supposed to be an exact representation of the world. The writings of René Descartes have been described as "Spinoza's starting point".[94] Spinoza's first publication was his 1663 geometric exposition of proofs using Euclid's model with definitions and axioms of Descartes' Principles of Philosophy. Following Descartes, Spinoza aimed to understand truth through logical deductions from 'clear and distinct ideas', a process which always begins from the 'self-evident truths' of axioms.[105] However, his actual project does not end there: from his first work to his last one, there runs a thread of "attending to the highest good" (which also is the highest truth) and thereby achieving a state of peace and harmony, either in the metaphysical or political manner. In this light, the Principles of Philosophy might be viewed as an "exercise in geometric method and philosophy", paving the way for numerous concepts and conclusions that would define his philosophy (see Cogitata Metaphysica).[106]
Metaphysics
Spinoza's
It cannot be overemphasized how the rest of Spinoza's philosophy—his philosophy of mind, his epistemology, his psychology, his moral philosophy, his political philosophy, and his philosophy of religion—flows more or less directly from the metaphysical underpinnings in Part I of the Ethics.[107]
Substance, attributes, and modes
Spinoza sets forth a vision of Being, illuminated by his awareness of God. They may seem strange at first sight. To the question "What is?" he replies: "Substance, its attributes, and modes".
Following Maimonides, Spinoza defined substance as "that which is in itself and is conceived through itself", meaning that it can be understood without any reference to anything external.[109] Being conceptually independent also means that the same thing is ontologically independent, depending on nothing else for its existence and being the 'cause of itself' (causa sui).[109] A mode is something which cannot exist independently but rather must do so as part of something else on which it depends, including properties (for example colour), relations (such as size) and individual things.[110] Modes can be further divided into 'finite' and 'infinite' ones, with the latter being evident in every finite mode (he gives the examples of "motion" and "rest").[111] The traditional understanding of an attribute in philosophy is similar to Spinoza's modes, though he uses that word differently.[110] To him, an attribute is "that which the intellect perceives as constituting the essence of substance", and there are possibly an infinite number of them.[112] It is the essential nature which is "attributed" to reality by intellect.[113]
Spinoza defined God as "a substance consisting of infinite attributes, each of which expresses eternal and infinite essence", and since "no cause or reason" can prevent such a being from existing, it therefore must exist.[113] This is a form of the ontological argument, which is claimed to prove the existence of God, but Spinoza went further in stating that it showed that only God exists.[114] Accordingly, he stated that "Whatever is, is in God, and nothing can exist or be conceived without God".[114][115] This means that God is identical with the universe, an idea which he encapsulated in the phrase "Deus sive Natura" ('God or Nature'), which has been interpreted by some as atheism or pantheism.[116] Though there are many more of them, God can be known by humans either through the attribute of extension or the attribute of thought.[117] Thought and extension represent giving complete accounts of the world in mental or physical terms.[118] To this end, he says that "the mind and the body are one and the same thing, which is conceived now under the attribute of thought, now under the attribute of extension".[119]
After stating his proof for God's existence, Spinoza addresses who "God" is. Spinoza believed that God is "the sum of the natural and physical laws of the universe and certainly not an individual entity or creator".
Spinoza argues that "things could not have been produced by God in any other way or in any other order than is the case".[122] Therefore, concepts such as 'freedom' and 'chance' have little meaning.[116] This picture of Spinoza's determinism is illuminated in Ethics: "the infant believes that it is by free will that it seeks the breast; the angry boy believes that by free will he wishes vengeance; the timid man thinks it is with free will he seeks flight; the drunkard believes that by a free command of his mind he speaks the things which when sober he wishes he had left unsaid. … All believe that they speak by a free command of the mind, whilst, in truth, they have no power to restrain the impulse which they have to speak."[123] In his letter to G. H. Schuller (Letter 58), he wrote: "men are conscious of their desire and unaware of the causes by which [their desires] are determined."[124] He also held that knowledge of true causes of passive emotion can transform it into an active emotion, thus anticipating one of the key ideas of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis.[125]
According to Eric Schliesser, Spinoza was skeptical regarding the possibility of knowledge of nature and as a consequence at odds with scientists such as Galileo and Huygens.[126]
Causality
Although the
Spinoza has also been described as an "Epicurean materialist",[94] specifically in reference to his opposition to Cartesian mind-body dualism. This view was held by Epicureans before him, as they believed that atoms with their probabilistic paths were the only substance that existed fundamentally.[128][129] Spinoza, however, deviated significantly from Epicureans by adhering to strict determinism, much like the Stoics before him, in contrast to the Epicurean belief in the probabilistic path of atoms, which is more in line with contemporary thought on quantum mechanics.[128][130]
The emotions
One thing which seems, on the surface, to distinguish Spinoza's view of the emotions from both Descartes' and Hume's pictures of them is that he takes the emotions to be cognitive in some important respect. Jonathan Bennett claims that "Spinoza mainly saw emotions as caused by cognitions. [However] he did not say this clearly enough and sometimes lost sight of it entirely."[131] Spinoza provides several demonstrations which purport to show truths about how human emotions work. The picture presented is, according to Bennett, "unflattering, coloured as it is by universal egoism".[132]
Ethical philosophy
Spinoza's notion of blessedness figures centrally in his ethical philosophy. Spinoza writes that blessedness (or salvation or freedom), "consists, namely, in a constant and eternal love of God, or in God’s love for men.[133] Philosopher Jonathan Bennett interprets this as Spinoza wanting "'blessedness' to stand for the most elevated and desirable state one could possibly be in."[134] Understanding what is meant by "most elevated and desirable state" requires understanding Spinoza's notion of conatus (striving, but not necessarily with any teleological baggage)[citation needed] and that "perfection" refers not to (moral) value, but to completeness. Given that individuals are identified as mere modifications of the infinite Substance, it follows that no individual can ever be fully complete, i.e., perfect, or blessed. Absolute perfection, is, in Spinoza's thought, reserved solely for Substance. Nevertheless, modes can attain a lesser form of blessedness, namely, that of pure understanding of oneself as one really is, i.e., as a definite modification of Substance in a certain set of relationships with everything else in the universe. That this is what Spinoza has in mind can be seen at the end of the Ethics, in E5P24 and E5P25, where Spinoza makes two final key moves, unifying the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical propositions he has developed over the course of the work. In E5P24, he links the understanding of particular things to the understanding of God, or Substance; in E5P25, the conatus of the mind is linked to the third kind of knowledge (Intuition). From here, it is a short step to the connection of Blessedness with the amor dei intellectualis ("intellectual love of God").[citation needed]
Tractatus Politicus (Political Treatise) (TP)
This unfinished treatise in Latin expounds Spinoza's ideas about forms of government. As with the Ethics, this work was published posthumously by his circle of supporters in Latin and in Dutch. The subtitle is "In quo demonstratur, quomodo Societas, ubi Imperium Monarchicum locum habet, sicut et ea, ubi Optimi imperant, debet institui, ne in Tyrannidem labatur, et ut Pax, Libertasque civium inviolata maneat." ("In which it is demonstrated how a society, may it be a
Although Spinoza’s political and theological thought was radical on many ways, he held traditional views on the place of women. In the TP, he writes briefly on the last page of the TP that women were “naturally” subordinate to men, stating bluntly his women are “by nature” not by “institutional practice” subordinate to men. Both his major biographers in English remark on his view of women. Biographer
Pantheism
Spinoza was considered to be an atheist because he used the word "God" [Deus] to signify a concept that was different from that of traditional Judeo–Christian monotheism. "Spinoza expressly denies personality and consciousness to God; he has neither intelligence, feeling, nor will; he does not act according to purpose, but everything follows necessarily from his nature, according to law...."[138] Thus, Spinoza's cool, indifferent God differs from the concept of an anthropomorphic, fatherly God who cares about humanity.[139]
In 1785,
The attraction of Spinoza's philosophy to late 18th-century Europeans was that it provided an alternative to materialism, atheism, and deism. Three of Spinoza's ideas strongly appealed to them:
- the unity of all that exists;
- the regularity of all that happens;
- the identity of spirit and nature.[140]
By 1879, Spinoza's pantheism was praised by many, but was considered by some to be alarming and dangerously inimical.[141]
Spinoza's "God or Nature" (Deus sive Natura) provided a living, natural God, in contrast to
It is a widespread belief that Spinoza equated God with the material universe. He has therefore been called the "prophet"[143] and "prince"[144] and most eminent expounder of pantheism. More specifically, in a letter to Henry Oldenburg he states, "as to the view of certain people that I identify God with Nature (taken as a kind of mass or corporeal matter), they are quite mistaken".[145] For Spinoza, the universe (cosmos) is a mode under two attributes of Thought and Extension. God has infinitely many other attributes which are not present in the world.
According to German philosopher
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spinoza's God is an "infinite intellect" (Ethics 2p11c) — all-knowing (2p3), and capable of loving both himself—and us, insofar as we are part of his perfection (5p35c). And if the mark of a personal being is that it is one towards which we can entertain personal attitudes, then we should note too that Spinoza recommends amor intellectualis dei (the intellectual love of God) as the supreme good for man (5p33). However, the matter is complex. Spinoza's God does not have free will (1p32c1), he does not have purposes or intentions (1 appendix), and Spinoza insists that "neither intellect nor will pertain to the nature of God" (1p17s1). Moreover, while we may love God, we need to remember that God is not a being who could ever love us back. "He who loves God cannot strive that God should love him in return", says Spinoza (5p19).[148]
Steven Nadler suggests that settling the question of Spinoza's atheism or pantheism depends on an analysis of attitudes. If pantheism is associated with religiosity, then Spinoza is not a pantheist, since Spinoza believes that the proper stance to take towards God is not one of reverence or religious awe, but instead one of objective study and reason, since taking the religious stance would leave one open to the possibility of error and superstition.[149]
Other philosophical connections
Many authors have discussed similarities between Spinoza's philosophy and Eastern philosophical traditions. The 19th-century German Sanskritist Theodor Goldstücker was one of the early figures to notice the similarities between Spinoza's religious conceptions and the Vedanta tradition of India, writing that Spinoza's thought was "... so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta, that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus, did his biography not satisfy us that he was wholly unacquainted with their doctrines..."[150][151] Max Müller also noted the striking similarities between Vedanta and the system of Spinoza, equating the Brahman in Vedanta to Spinoza's 'Substantia.'[152]
Legacy
Spinoza's ideas have had a major impact on intellectual debates from the seventeenth century to the current era. How Spinoza is viewed has gone from the atheistic author of treatises that undermine Judaism and organized religion, to a cultural hero, the first secular Jew.
His expulsion from the Portuguese synagogue in 1656 has stirred debate over the years on whether he is the "first modern Jew". Spinoza influenced discussions of the so-called
In 1886, the young George Santayana published "The Ethical Doctrine of Spinoza", in The Harvard Monthly.[162] Much later, he wrote an introduction to Spinoza's Ethics and "De Intellectus Emendatione".[163] In 1932, Santayana was invited to present an essay (published as "Ultimate Religion")[164] at a meeting at The Hague celebrating the tricentennial of Spinoza's birth. In Santayana's autobiography, he characterized Spinoza as his "master and model" in understanding the naturalistic basis of morality.[165]
Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein evoked Spinoza with the title (suggested to him by G. E. Moore) of the English translation of his first definitive philosophical work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, an allusion to Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. Elsewhere, Wittgenstein deliberately borrowed the expression sub specie aeternitatis from Spinoza (Notebooks, 1914–16, p. 83). The structure of his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus does have some structural affinities with Spinoza's Ethics (though, admittedly, not with the Spinoza's Tractatus) in erecting complex philosophical arguments upon basic logical propositions and principles. In propositions 6.4311 and 6.45 he alludes to a Spinozian understanding of eternity and interpretation of the religious concept of eternal life, contending, "If by eternity is understood not eternal temporal duration, but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present." (6.4311) "The contemplation of the world sub specie aeterni is its contemplation as a limited whole." (6.45)
Spinoza's philosophy played an important role in the development of
Leo Strauss dedicated his first book, Spinoza's Critique of Religion, to an examination of his ideas. Strauss identified Spinoza as part of the tradition of Enlightenment rationalism that eventually produced Modernity. Moreover, he identifies Spinoza and his works as the beginning of Jewish Modernity.[94] More recently Jonathan Israel argued that, from 1650 to 1750, Spinoza was "the chief challenger of the fundamentals of revealed religion, received ideas, tradition, morality, and what was everywhere regarded, in absolutist and non-absolutist states alike, as divinely constituted political authority."[174]
Spinoza is an important historical figure in the Netherlands, where his portrait was featured prominently on the Dutch 1000-guilder banknote, legal tender until the euro was introduced in 2002. The highest and most prestigious scientific award of the Netherlands is named the Spinozaprijs (Spinoza prize). Spinoza was included in a 50 theme canon that attempts to summarise the history of the Netherlands.[175] In 2014 a copy of Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus was presented to the Chair of the Dutch Parliament, and shares a shelf with the Bible and the Quran.[176]
Modern era
Reconsideration of Spinoza's expulsion
There has been a renewed debate in modern times about Spinoza's excommunication among Israeli politicians, rabbis and Jewish press, with many calling for the cherem to be reversed.
Memory and memorials
- Spinoza Lyceum, a high school in Amsterdam South was named after Spinoza. There is also a 3 metre tall marble statute of him on the grounds of the school carved by Hildo Krop.[180]
- The Spinoza Havurah (a Humanistic Jewish community) was named in Spinoza's honor.[181]
- The Spinoza Foundation Monument has a statute of Spinoza located in front of the Amsterdam City Hall (at Zwanenburgwal) [182] It was created by Dutch sculptor Nicolas Dings and was erected in 2008.[183][184]
Works
- c. 1660. Korte Verhandeling van God, de mensch en deszelvs welstand (A Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being).
- 1662. Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione (On the Improvement of the Understanding) (unfinished).
- 1663. Principia philosophiae cartesianae (The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy, translated by Samuel Shirley, with an Introduction and Notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice, Indianapolis, 1998). Gallica (in Latin).
- 1670. Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (A Theologico-Political Treatise), TTP, published anonymously in his lifetime with a false place of publication.
- 1675–76. Tractatus Politicus (Political Treatise), TP (unfinished at his death), published posthumously. (PDF version)
- 1677. Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata (The Ethics, finished 1674, but published posthumously, title added posthumously)
- 1677. Compendium grammatices linguae hebraeae (Hebrew Grammar).[185]
- Morgan, Michael L. (ed.), 2002. Spinoza: Complete Works, with the Translation of Samuel Shirley, Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87220-620-5.
- Edwin Curley (ed.), 1985, 2016. The Collected Works of Spinoza (two volumes), Princeton: Princeton University Press.(Excludes the Compendium grammatices linguae hebraeae).
- Spruit, Leen and Pina Totaro, 2011. The Vatican Manuscript of Spinoza's Ethica, Leiden: Brill. This is the only known surviving manuscript of Spinoza's Ethics, discovered in the Vatican archive and published in a bilingual Latin-English edition.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ Spinoza has also been interpreted as a defender of the coherence theory of truth.[3]
- ^ /bəˈruːk spɪˈnoʊzə/;[12] Dutch: [baːˈrux spɪˈnoːzaː]; Portuguese: [ðɨ ʃpiˈnɔzɐ]; Hebrew: ברוך שפינוזה. Most documents within the Jewish community give his name as Bento. A few refer to him as Baruch, the Hebrew translation of Bento, which means "Blessed".[13] Later, as an author and correspondent, his preferred name in Latin was Benedictus de Spinoza, with the first name sometimes anglicized as Benedict.
- ^ Steven Nadler speculates that Spinoza Latinized his name when he started to audit classes at the University of Leiden in 1659.[14]
- ^ Portugees-Israëlietische Gemeente te Amsterdam (Portuguese-Israelite commune of Amsterdam)
Citations
- ^ Garber 2015, p. 121.
- ^ Newlands 2017, p. 64.
- ^ Young, James O. (26 June 2018). "The Coherence Theory of Truth". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ David, Marian (28 May 2015). "The Correspondence Theory of Truth". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Koistinen 2018, p. 288.
- ^ Kreines 2015, p. 25.
- ^ LeBuffe, Michael (26 May 2020). "Spinoza's Psychological Theory". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Yovel 1989b, p. 3.
- ^ a b Nadler 1999, p. 45.
- ^ Nadler 1999, p. 119.
- ^ a b Adler 2014, p. 27.
- ^ "Spinoza". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ Nadler 1999, p. 42.
- ^ Nadler 1999, p. 163.
- ^ Nadler 2018, p. xiii.
- ^ Dutton, Blake D. "Benedict De Spinoza (1632–1677)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 322, 327–51.
- ^ Stewart 2006, p. 352.
- ^ Simkins 2014.
- ^ Carlisle 2021, p. 10.
- ^ Smith 1997, p. 2.
- ^ Goldstein 2006, p. i.
- ^ a b Israel 2023, p. 115.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 85.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 134.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 88.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 299.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 124.
- ^ a b Israel 2023, p. 158.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 144.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 140.
- ^ a b Israel 2023, p. 140-41.
- ^ Nadler 2018, p. 38.
- ^ a b Israel 2023, p. 183.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 117.
- ^ a b Israel 2023, p. 185.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 145-46.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 159.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 160.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 161.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 90.
- ^ Nadler 2018, p. 84.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 148–49.
- ^ Nadler 1999, pp. 65–66.
- ^ Nadler 2018, pp. 72–75.
- ^ Nadler 2018, p. 93.
- ^ Nadler 2018, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 206.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 204–05.
- ^ a b Israel 2023, pp. 205–06.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 210.
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 21.
- ^ a b Nadler 2001, p. 25.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 27.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 189.
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 20.
- ^ a b c Gottlieb, Anthony. "God Exists, Philosophically". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Nadler 2001, pp. 17–22.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 74.
- ^ Touber 2018, p. 45.
- ^ Nadler 2001, pp. 2–7.
- ^ Smith 2003, p. xx.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 19.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 20.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 16.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 28.
- ^ a b c Scruton 2002, p. 22.
- ^ Kramer, Howard (14 August 2014). "HOME & GRAVESITE OF BARUCH SPINOZA". The Complete Pilgrim - Religious Travel Sites. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ Nadler 2011, p. 167.
- ^ Kirsch, Adam, "The Reticent Radical: Baruch Spinoza's quiet revolution". The New Yorker, February 12 & 19, 2024, 89-92
- ^ Kirsch, "The Reticent Radical", p.92
- ^ "he [Spinoza] told me [Leibniz] he had a strong desire, on the day of the massacre of Mess. De Witt, to sally forth at night, and put up somewhere, near the place of the massacre, a paper with the words Ultimi barbarorum [ultimate barbarians]. But his host had shut the house to prevent his going out, for he would have run the risk of being torn to pieces." (A Refutation Recently Discovered of Spinoza by Leibnitz, "Remarks on the Unpublished Refutation of Spinoza by Leibnitz", Edinburg: Thomas Constable and Company, 1855. p. 70.
- ^ Nadler 2011, p. 239.
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 26.
- ^ Chauí 2001, pp. 30–31: "A commentary on Descartes' work, Principles of Cartesian Philosophy, only work published under his own name, brought him on an invitation to teach philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. Spinoza, however, refused, thinking that it might demand the renunciation of his freedom of thought, for the invite stipulated that all care should be taken to 'not insult the principles of the established religion'."
- ^ Popkin, Richard H., "Benedict de Spinoza" in The Columbia History of Western Philosophy (Columbia University Press, 1999), p. 381.
- ^ a b Lucas 1960.
- ^ a b Stewart 2006, pp. 12–14.
- ^ Christiaan Huygens, Oeuvres complètes, Letter No. 1638, 11 May 1668
- ^ Christiaan Huygens, Oeuvres complètes, letter to his brother 23 September 1667
- ^ Nadler 1999, p. 215.
- ^ Nadler 2001, p. 183.
- ^ Christiaan Huygens, Oeuvres complètes, vol. XXII, p. 732, footnote
- ^ Theodore Kerckring, "Spicilegium Anatomicum" Observatio XCIII (1670)
- ^ Gullan-Whur 1998, pp. 317–18.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 1150–1151.
- ^ Nadler 2018, p. 406.
- ^ Israel 2023, p. 1155.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 1158.
- ^ Jonathan Israel, "The Banning of Spinoza's Works in the Dutch Republic (1670–1678)", in: Wiep van Bunge and Wim Klever (eds.) Disguised and Overt Spinozism around 1700 (Leiden, 1996), pp. 3–14 (online Archived 28 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine).
- ^ Totaro 2015, pp. 321–22.
- ^ Ven, Jeroen van de. Printing Spinoza: A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works Published in the Seventeenth Century. Leiden; Brill, 2022.
- ^ Stewart 2006, p. 106.
- ^ a b c d e f Bloom, Harold (16 June 2006). "Deciphering Spinoza, the Great Original – Book review of Betraying Spinoza. The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity by Rebecca Goldstein". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-87220-620-5.
- ^ see Refutation of Spinoza
- ^ Buruma 2024, pp. 166–67.
- ^ "Spinoza on Islam". 13 February 2012.
- ^ Spinoza, Baruch (2003). Correspondence of Spinoza. Translated by A. Wolf. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. p. 354.
- OCLC 1067012129. Retrieved 9 June 2021 – via University of Windsor, Electronic Theses and Dissertations.
- ^ Soley 1880.
- ^ Nadler 2011, p. xi.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 776.
- ^ Montanarelli, Lisa. "Spinoza stymies 'God's attorney' / Stewart argues the secular world was at stake in Leibniz face off". SFGate. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ Scruton 2002, pp. 31–32.
- ISBN 978-0-87220-620-5.
- ^ Della Rocca 2008, p. 33.
- ^ Jaspers 1974, p. 9.
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 41
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 42
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 43.
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 44.
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 45.
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 38
- ^ Spinoza presents not only an ontological proof for the existence of God but also three additional non-ontological proofs, which by some are seen as "both more convincing and more interesting than his ontological proof". See Lin, Martin. “Spinoza’s Arguments for the Existence of God.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 75, no. 2, Sept. 2007, pp. 269–297, DOI: 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2007.00076.x. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.
- ^ a b Scruton 2002, p. 51.
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 57.
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 59.
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 60.
- ^ Cannon, J. A. (2009, May 17). World in time of upheaval: Sources of enlightenment. Deseret News.
- ^ a b Charles Hartshorne and William Reese, "Philosophers Speak of God", Humanity Books, 1953 ch. 4
- ^ Baruch Spinoza. Ethics, in Spinoza: Complete Works, trans. by Samuel Shirley and ed. by Michael L. Morgan (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002), see Part I, Proposition 33.
- ^ Curley 1996, p. 73.
- ^ Ethics, Pt. I, Prop. XXXVI, Appendix: "[M]en think themselves free inasmuch as they are conscious of their volitions and desires, and never even dream, in their ignorance, of the causes which have disposed of them so to wish and desire."
- ^ Scruton 2002, p. 86.
- ^ ""Spinoza and the Philosophy of Science: Mathematics, Motion, and Being"". PhilSci-Archive. 9 July 2012.
- ^ Della Rocca 2008, p. 30.
- ^ a b Konstan, David (8 July 2022). "Epicurus". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Curley 1996, p. 118.
- ^ "Baruch Spinoza, "Human Beings are Determined"". Lander.edu. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- ^ Bennett 1984, p. 276.
- ^ Bennett 1984, p. 277.
- ISBN 9780140435719.
- ^ Bennett 1984, p. 371.
- ^ Nadler 2018, p. 495.
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 895–96.
- ^ Matheron, Alexandre, “Femmes et serviteurs dans lad démocratie spinoziste.” Revue philosophique de la la France et de l’étranger 2 (1977) 181-200
- ^ Frank Thilly, A History of Philosophy, § 47, Holt & Co., New York, 1914
- ^ "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings." These words were spoken by Albert Einstein, upon being asked if he believed in God by Rabbi Herbert Goldstein of the Institutional Synagogue, New York, April 24, 1921, published in the New York Times, April 25, 1929; from Einstein: The Life and Times Ronald W. Clark, New York: World Publishing Co., 1971, p. 413; also cited as a telegram to a Jewish newspaper, 1929, Einstein Archive 33–272, from Alice Calaprice, ed., The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
- ^ Lange, Frederick Albert (1880). History of Materialism and Criticism of its Present Importance, Vol. II. Boston: Houghton, Osgood, & Co. p. 147. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- Lane Theological Seminary, Consisting of Addresses on Occasion of the Anniversary of the Seminary, 8 May 1879, Together with Commemorative Resolutions, p. 26.
- ^ Hutchison, Percy (20 November 1932). "Spinoza, "God-Intoxicated Man"; Three Books Which Mark the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the Philosopher's Birth". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ Picton, J. Allanson, "Pantheism: Its Story and Significance", 1905.
- ^ Fraser, Alexander Campbell "Philosophy of Theism", William Blackwood and Sons, 1895, p. 163.
- ISBN 978-1-60459-156-9, letter 73.
- ^ a b Jaspers 1974, pp. 14, 95
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-10782-2, p. 40
- ^ Mander, William (17 August 2023). "Pantheism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Nadler, Steven (8 November 2023). "Baruch Spinoza". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Literary Remains of the Late Professor Theodore Goldstucker, W. H. Allen, 1879. p. 32.
- ^ The Westminster Review 1862, pp. 256–257.
- ^ Three Lectures on the Vedanta Philosophy. F. Max Muller. Kessinger Publishing, 2003. p. 123
- ^ "Ralph Dumain: "The Autodidact Project": "Spinoza, the First Secular Jew?" by Yirmiyahu Yovel".
- ^ Kirsch, "The Reticent Radical", p.92
- ^ Israel 2023, pp. 1205.
- ISBN 9780791455432. Archivedfrom the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ Smith 1997, p. 168-69.
- ^ Yovel, Yirmiyahu. "Spinoza, the First Secular Jew?" Tikkun, vol. 5, no.1, pp. 40-42, 94-96.
- ^ Goetschel, Willi, Spinoza's Modernity: Mendelssohn, Lessing, and Heine. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 2004
- ^ Schwartz, Daniel B. The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2012
- ^ Schwartz, Daniel B. The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2012
- ^ George Santayana, "The Ethical Doctrine of Spinoza", The Harvard Monthly, 2 (June 1886: 144–52).
- ^ George Santayana, "Introduction", in Spinoza's Ethics and "De intellectus emendatione"(London: Dent, 1910, vii–xxii)
- ^ George Santayana, "Ultimate Religion", in Obiter Scripta, eds. Justus Buchler and Benjamin Schwartz (New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936) 280–97.
- ^ George Santayana, Persons and Places (Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press, 1986), pp. 233–36.
- OCLC 880877889.
- ^ Baugh, Bruce (28 March 2015). "Spinoza Contra Phenomenology: French Rationalism from Cavaillès to Deleuze". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ Deleuze, 1968.
- ^ Quoted in the translator's preface of Deleuze's Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza (1990).
- ^ S2CID 234131869, retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Einstein believes in "Spinoza's God"; Scientist Defines His Faith in Reply, to Cablegram From Rabbi Here. Sees a Divine Order But Says Its Ruler Is Not Concerned "Wit [sic] Fates and Actions of Human Beings."". The New York Times. 25 April 1929. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Einstein's Third Paradise, by Gerald Holton". Aip.org. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ Kaiser, Rudolf, Spinoza: Portrait of a Spiritual Hero. New York: Philosophical Library 1946
- ^ Israel 2001, p. 159.
- ^ "Entoen.nu". Entoen.nu. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ "Van der Ham biedt Verbeet Spinoza aan". RTL Nieuws. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ ABC Radio National (The Philosopher's Zone). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ Schwartz. The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2012, xi
- ^ Rocker, Simon (28 August 2014). "Why Baruch Spinoza is still excommunicated". The Jewish Chronicle Online.
- ^ "Mo 50 – Statue Spinoza – Amsterdam" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ SpinozaHavurah.org Archived 1 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed Nov. 202, 2022)
- ^ "Statute of Spinoza unveiled in Amsterdam centre" Simply Amsterdam (Nov. 25, 2008) Archived 21 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed Nov. 20, 2022)
- ^ "Who stands proud on a pedestal in Amsterdam" Unclogged in Amsterdam : An American Expat plumbs Holland (Aug. 22, 2020) Archived 21 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed Nov. 20, 2022)
- ^ "Spinoza Monument" CitySeeker.com Archived 21 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed Nov. 20, 2022)
- ^ See G. Licata, "Spinoza e la cognitio universalis dell'ebraico. Demistificazione e speculazione grammaticale nel Compendio di grammatica ebraica", Giornale di Metafisica, 3 (2009), pp. 625–61.
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- Lucas, P. G. (1960). "Some Speculative and Critical Philosophers". In I. Levine (ed.). Philosophy. London: Odhams.
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- Articles and online
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- Simkins, James (2014). "On the Development of Spinoza's Account of Human Religion". Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies. 5 (1): 52–72. ISSN 2155-1723.
- OCLC 5545819846.
other hand, the discovery and publication in 1862 of a lost treatise of Spinoza's—the Tractatus brtvia de Deo et homine ejusque felicitate
- "The Religious Difficulties of India". .
Other works
- ISBN 978-0-15-602871-4
- Della Rocca, Michael. 1996. Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509562-3
- Garrett, Don, ed., 1995. The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza. Cambridge Uni. Press.
- Deleuze, Gilles, 1968. Spinoza et le problème de l'expression. Trans. "Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza" Martin Joughin (New York: Zone Books).
- _____, 1970. Spinoza: Philosophie pratique. Transl. "Spinoza: Practical Philosophy".
- _____, 1990. Negotiations trans. Martin Joughin (New York: Columbia University Press).
- Gatens, Moira, and Lloyd, Genevieve, 1999. Collective imaginings: Spinoza, past and present. Routledge.
- Koistinen, Olli, (ed.). 2009. The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza's Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Goode, Francis, 2012. Life of Spinoza. Smashwords edition. ISBN 978-1-4661-3399-0
- ISBN 978-0-19-927954-8
- Hardt, Michael, trans., University of Minnesota Press. Preface, in French, by Gilles Deleuze, available here: "01. Préface à L'Anomalie sauvage de Negri". Multitudes.samizdat.net. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- _____, 2006. Enlightenment Contested: Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1670–1752, (ISBN 978-0-19-927922-7)
- _____. 2002. “Philosophy, Commerce and the Synagogue: Spinoza’s Expulsion from the Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish Community in 1656.” In Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000). Edited by Jonathan Israel and Reinier Salverda, pp. 125-140. Leiden: Brill.
- ISBN 978-0-8222-2385-6.)
- Kayser, Rudolf, 1946, with an introduction by Albert Einstein. Spinoza: Portrait of a Spiritual Hero. New York: The Philosophical Library.
- Kisner, Matthew J. 2011. Spinoza on human freedom: Reason, autonomy and the good life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Lloyd, Genevieve. 1994. Part of Nature: Self-Knowledge in Spinoza's 'Ethics'. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Lloyd, Genevieve. 2018. Reclaiming wonder. After the sublime. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-3311-2
- LeBuffe, Michael. 2010. Spinoza and Human Freedom. Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 978-0-674-36153-9). Reprinted in Frankfurt, H. G., ed., 1972. Leibniz: A Collection of Critical Essays. Anchor Books.
- Macherey, Pierre, 1977. Hegel ou Spinoza, Maspéro (2nd ed. La Découverte, 2004).
- _____, 1994–98. Introduction à l'Ethique de Spinoza. Paris: PUF.
- Magnusson 1990: Magnusson, M (ed.), Spinoza, Baruch, Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Chambers 1990, ISBN 978-0-550-16041-6.
- Matheron, Alexandre, 1969. Individu et communauté chez Spinoza, Paris: Minuit.
- Millner, Simon L., The Face of Benedictus Spinoza (New York: Machmadim Art Editions, Inc., 1946).
- Montag, Warren, Bodies, Masses, Power: Spinoza and his Contemporaries. (London: Verso, 2002).
- Moreau, Pierre-François, 2003, Spinoza et le spinozisme, PUF (Presses Universitaires de France)
- ISBN 978-0691183848).
- Negri, Antonio, 1991. The Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza's Metaphysics and Politics.
- _____, 2004. Subversive Spinoza: (Un)Contemporary Variations.
- ISBN 978-0333733905.
- Ratner, Joseph, 1927. The Philosophy of Spinoza (The Modern Library: Random House)
- Stolze, Ted and Warren Montag (eds.), The New Spinoza, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.
- Strauss, Leo. Persecution and the Art of Writing. Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press, 1952. Reprint. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
- _____ch. 5, "How to Study Spinoza's Tractus Theologico-Politicus;" reprinted in Strauss, Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity, ed. Kenneth Hart Green (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997), 181–233.
- ____Spinoza's Critique of Religion. New York: Schocken Books, 1965. Reprint. University of Chicago Press, 1996.
- _____ "Preface to the English Translation" reprinted as "Preface to Spinoza's Critique of Religion", in Strauss, Liberalism Ancient and Modern (New York: Basic Books, 1968, 224–59; also in Strauss, Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity, 137–77).
- Valentiner, W.R., 1957. Rembrandt and Spinoza: A Study of the Spiritual Conflicts in Seventeenth-Century Holland, London: Phaidon Press.
- Vinciguerra, Lorenzo Spinoza in French Philosophy Today. Philosophy Today Archived 7 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Vol. 53, No. 4, Winter 2009 Archived 7 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
- Van den Ven, Jeroen. Printing Spinoza: A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works Published in the Seventeenth Century. Leiden 2022.
- _____. Documenting Spinoza: A Biographical History of his Life and Time. (forthcoming)
- Williams, David Lay. 2010. "Spinoza and the General Will", The Journal of Politics, vol. 72 (April): 341–356.
- Wolfson, Henry A. "The Philosophy of Spinoza". 2 vols. Harvard University Press.
External links
Works
- Works by Benedictus de Spinoza at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Baruch Spinoza at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by Baruch Spinoza at Open Library
- A Theologico-Political Treatise– English Translation
- Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata et in quinque partes distincta, in quibus agetur
- Opera posthuma – Amsterdam 1677. Complete photographic reproduction, ed. by F. Mignini (Quodlibet publishing house website)
- The Ethics of Benedict de Spinoza, translated by George Eliot, transcribed by Thomas Deegan
- Spinoza Archive on the Digital collections of Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa