It is my view indeed that with the ttp spinoza intervened in certain very specific political debates concerning the relation of holland to the other provinces, the dutch political system, the position of the dutch reformed church as a public church, and the future of the united provinces, even if large parts of the book were probably written. For example, in setting out the essentials of spinozas outlook, he makes a nice short argument that spinoza was not as is sometimes claimed an atheist. Very good with gently bumped edges and subtly soiled extremities. Rejecting both the mindbody dualism of descartes and traditional religious views about god and the universe, spinozas philosophy was groundbreaking in its radical understanding of the relationship between the human person and the divine, the nature of moral action, and the relativization of the. The concluding chapter on freud and his relation to spinoza will be of particular interest to scholars working in psychology and neuroscience. As for spinoza, i think that michael della roccas introductory book is phenomenal, and most university libraries will have a copy. Spinozas theoretical philosophy is one of the most radical attempts to construct a pure ontology with a single infinite substance. Ways into reading spinoza philosophical bibliotherapy. Before we begin reading it, we should bear in mind a few key ideas that motivate quite a lot of spinozas thought. His exposition of the main lines of spinozas thought is clear and in my opinion correct.
It was written between 1661 and 1675 1 and was first published posthumously in 1677. Selected from the chief works of the 17thcentury jewish philosopher from amsterdam, this book features three parts of selections on god, man, and man s wellbeing. Popular spinoza books meet your next favorite book. Spinoza s life and works 17 the violence of human emotional reactions and the lifethreatening danger of human greed, ambition, and bigotry.
Spinoza beyond philosophy, 2012 online research library. The essays collected in this volume suggest that what applies to althusser applies to his whole generation that spinoza is an unsuspected but very real presence in the work of contemporary philosophers from deleuze and lacan to foucault and derrida. Thus, the fundamental insight of spinoza in the first book is that nature is an indivisible whole, without cause, substantial. Its also a pretty good condensed introduction to spinoza thats worth checking out. You may copy it, give it away or reuse it under the terms of the project gutenberg license included with this ebook or online at. This sweet little book really helped me understand spinozas ethics. Spinoza and the specters of modernity is a wideranging and ambitious work that will be relevant to many interests.
Reason and intuitive knowledge in spinozas ethics two ways. Baruch spinoza 16321677, is a dutch philosopher and has written the following works. Baruch spinoza has 178 books on goodreads with 118128 ratings. To see the presence of spinoza, louis althusser once quipped, one must at least have heard of him. Ethics and freedom within spinozas system of necessary. Spinozas metaphysics and epistemology make way for a kind of anthropology. In accordance with the wishes of his father he studied theology, but soon showed a decided preference for free philosophical speculation. The intellectual love of wisdom is the true god, who is the immanent reality. Buyse lex the word lex and its dutch synonym wet occur in all of spinozas works. There are reasons to believe that spinoza is to be seen as a necessetarian. It seems impossible that this could be true,and yet sophies world the novel itselfhelps us understand spinozas ideas by illustrating them in the plot of the book. This is, by the way, in the context of a fine summary of spinoza s rationalism.
In betraying spinoza, rebecca goldstein sets out to rediscover the fleshandblood man often hidden behind the veneer of rigorous rationality, and to crack the mystery of the breach between the philosopher and his jewish past. Spinozas intellectual power, which emerged shortly after 1656 in his treatise on the emendation of the intellect, must have had a long incubation. Spinozas ttp which was publishedthough anonymouslyearlier than e and is easier to master on ones own than e. Whether spinoza is seen as a necessitarian or a determinist will bring about important implications for how we interpret and understand his ethical project as a whole.
One of the trickiest aspects of spinozas argument is the idea that thought and matter are two different versions of the same substance. Spinoza, rejecting any divine transcendence, identifies and merges god and the nature. The philosophy of spinoza vol i by austryn wolfson harry. From the age of thirteen he works in his fathers business firm while he pursues his studies on the death of his father in 1654 he will manage the. Texts include the writings of hume, descartes, bacon, berkeley, newton, locke, mill, edwards, kant, leibniz, malebranche, spinoza, hobbes, and reid. Spinozas parsimonious treatment of the distinction between reason and intuitive knowledge in the ethics. Because most political work on spinoza is more indebted to e and to his. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this spinoza study guide and get instant access to the following summary.
At the jewish school he studies theology and commerce. Entertainingly written, more like a historical novel than a serious biography, with a short preface by einstein. Also included are chapters on the life and general philosophical ideas of spinoza, along with an appendix. Goldstein argues that the trauma of the inquisitions persecution of its forced jewish converts plays itself out in. The philosophy of spinoza alfred weber b aruch benedict spinoza,1 spinosa, or despinoza, was born at amsterdam, in 1632, of portuguese jewish parents, who were, it seems, in good circumstances. Ethica, ordine geometrico demonstrata, usually known as the ethics, is a philosophical treatise written in latin by baruch spinoza. English editions of spinozas works the principles of descartes philosophy ed. This unique nature, unified and necessary is what spinoza calls god. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. English editions of spinoza s works the principles of descartes philosophy ed. Translated from the latin with an introduction by r. The ethics spinozas main work, is exposed as is a treatise on geometry. Spinoza s intellectual power, which emerged shortly after 1656 in his treatise on the emendation of the intellect, must have had a long incubation.
In my dissertation, i explore this fundamental but relatively unexplored issue in spinoza scholarship by investigating the nature of this distinction and its ethical implications. Outside of nature, there is nothing, and all that exists is a part of nature. A selection of philosophy texts by philosophers of the early modern period, prepared with a view to making them easier to read while leaving intact the main arguments, doctrines, and lines of thought. Baruch spinoza is born in 1632 in the jewish quarter of amsterdam, into a family of welltodo merchants of spanish or portuguese extraction. Tractatus theologico politucus tractatus politicus. This book, which presents spinozas main ideas in dictionary form, has as its subject the opposition between ethics and morality, and the link between ethical and ontological propositions. Spinozas ethics is one of the most difficult books in philosophy. This book, which presents spinozas main ideas in dictionary form, has as its subject the opposition between ethics and morality, and. For example, in setting out the essentials of spinoza s outlook, he makes a nice short argument that spinoza was not as is sometimes claimed an atheist. Tractatus theologico politicus, spinoza, first edition abebooks.
Feb 01, 2003 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. List of books and articles about spinoza online research. It is notoriously obscure, as spinoza invents a variety of new terms and attempts to layout the book like a geometric proof. Spinozas life, works, and philosophy the spinoza web. Modern philosophy professor geoff pynn northern illinois university spring 2016 the ethics is a dense and difficult book. Spinoza gives us tools for understanding ourselves and strategies for living well, something that few philosophers since the greeks have attempted to provide. A novelchapter 7 wikisource, the free online library. What spinoza calls the intellectual love of god is knowledge of the third kind. At this period in philosophical history, philosophers were extremely impressed both with geometry and the physics of newton and leibniz. I just remembered this little book from oxford university press. His exposition of the main lines of spinoza s thought is clear and in my opinion correct.