This page indexes writings of the philosopher baruch spinoza at sacredtexts. Ambitious in its subject matter as critical spinoza all traditional philosophical conceptions of god, of man and the universe. Ambitious also by spinoza because his method is to demonstrate the truth about god, about nature, man, religion and the good life. 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. Offering a new reading of spinozas masterpiece, smith asserts that the ethics is a celebration of human freedom and its attendant joys and responsibilities and should be placed. What should i read to learn about spinozas philososphy. What are the basic constituents of reality, and how do other less basic things depend on them. The excommunicated spinoza, no less than his excommunicators, was responding to europes first experiment with racial antisemitism. In accordance with the wishes of his father he studied theology, but soon showed a decided preference for free philosophical speculation.
The collected works of spinoza provides, for the first time in english, a truly satisfactory edition of all of spinozas writings, with accurate and readable translations, based on the best critical editions of the originallanguage texts, done by a scholar who has published extensively on the philosophers work. A study of spinozas ethics second printing edition. Spinozas scandalous treatise and the birth of the secular age princeton. Im interested in either reading spinozas books or books that explain his ideas. The first is spinozas distinction between actions strictly speaking roughly, autonomous acts and passions heteronomous acts. Baruchs father, michael spinoza, born in 1587 in vidiger portu. Pdf ethics book by baruch spinoza free download 186 pages. Most of it consists of an analytic discussion of spinozas ideas and how they were interpreted and misinterpreted by. Most readers of spinoza treat him as a pure metaphysician, a grim determinist, or a stoic moralist, but none of these descriptions captures the author of the ethics, argues steven b. I shall, then, treat of the nature and strength of the emotions, and the minds power over them, by the same method as i have used in. The renegade jew who gave us modernity rebecca goldstein.
Baruch spinoza was born in amsterdam, the son of portuguese jewish refugees who had fled from the persecution of the spanish inquisition. It was written between 1661 and 1675 and was first published posthumously in 1677. Buy spinoza s political and ethical philosophy by robert alexander duff online at alibris. How do you solve a problem like reading the ethics. The two books the notion that divinity could be read in the natural world the metaphor of the book of nature was most famously publicized by galileo himself. And yet in his lifetime he was expelled from the jewish community in amsterdam as a heretic, and after his death his works were first banned by the christian authorities as atheistic, then hailed by humanists as the gospel of. His books include rembrandts jews, which was a finalist for the pulitzer prize. Spinozas philosophy of ratio edinburgh university press. This is, by the way, in the context of a fine summary of spinoza s rationalism. It is difficult to separate the two, since the history of thought is history and, although it be a question of the philosophy of spinoza, the. The reader is presented with a living debate engaged by firstrate scholars, who come to grips with the ideas of a philosopher seen as one of the few founders of the modern mind. Baruch spinoza 16321677 was a prominent dutch philosopher and along with rene descartes, he was a leading philosophical figure of the dutch golden age.
The first part of the book addresses the relationship between god and the universe. The second concerns spinozas conception of striving conatus, together with related concepts of desire, appetite, and volition. It aims, in the first instance, at being understood by those who have not made a special study of the subject. Many people prefer to read offline or to print out text and read from the real printed page. By laying the groundwork for the 18thcentury enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, i. He was born to sephardic portuguese jewish parents, living in the netherlands due to the inquisition. Published shortly after his death, the ethics is undoubtedly spinozas greatest work an elegant, fully cohesive cosmology derived from first principles, providing a coherent picture of reality, and a guide to the meaning of an. Spinozas theoretical philosophy is one of the most radical attempts to construct a pure ontology with a single infinite substance. Feb 01, 2003 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Spinozas political and ethical philosophy by robert. His book will in all probability be of good curiosity to college students and school college students of historic philosophy, early fashionable philosophy, spinoza, and the philosophy of the stoics.
Spinozas life he belonged to the community of jews from spain and portugal who had fled the inquisition. Reason papers 169 the cambridge companion spinoza, ed. Spinoza s thought, it is not merely because there are sign of unity in his work, but further because his critics have found such an amazing diversity there. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Buy ethics penguin classics new ed by spinoza, benedict, hampshire, stuart, curley, edwin isbn. Spinoza s scandalous treatise and the birth of the secular age princeton.
The twentyfive articles collected for this anthology display a wide range of interpretations to central themes in spinozas philosophy. The writings of spinoza internet sacred text archive. At this period in philosophical history, philosophers were extremely impressed both with geometry and the physics of newton and leibniz. The omission is doubly strange considering that he typically gets bland and solemn respecthe was either an unparalleled genius, or a buffoon, but its hard for me to see something in between. Spinozas philosophy of ratio edinburgh university press books. It is notoriously obscure, as spinoza invents a variety of new terms and attempts to layout the book like a geometric proof. From his geometrical method to his theory of mind and body and from his account of the emotions to his doctrine of how to live well, ratio is of prime importance in spinozas philosophy. Others want to carry documents around with them on their mobile phones and read while they are on the move. Offering a new reading of spinozas masterpiece, smith asserts that the ethics is a celebration of human freedom and its attendant. The ethics spinozas main work, is exposed as is a treatise on geometry. Try not to get put off by the appearance of the geometrical method. Seligman, author of flourish the spinoza problem is a ringing endorsement for an authentically philosophical life, wherein a toweringly heroic philosopher is persecuted in two eras. 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.
The ethics is presented in the standard translation of the work by edwin curley. Reason papers 169 the cambridge companion to spinoza, don garrett ed. Spinoza is the only thinker to both espouse and explicate the existence and operation of the human mind. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. He was the middle son in a prominent family of moderate means in amsterdams portuguesejewish community. Considered one of the great rationalists of 17thcentury philosophy, spinozas posthumous masterpiece ethics, in which he opposed descartess mindbody dualism, has earned him recognition as one of western philosophys most important thinkers. Nelson his book is held in high regard by philosophers, and its easy to understand why. The ethics by baruch spinoza, free pdf, ebook global grey. Ethics, spinoza is pursuing the establishment of one unified book of nature and also of true religion a book of deus, sive natura, informed by the scienza nuova of galileo. This edition also includes an introduction by stuart hampshire, outlining spinoza s. Hay ii professor of philosophy at the university of wisconsinmadison. Catalogue 106 spinozana antiquariaat spinoza amsterdam order.
List of books and articles about spinoza online research. Ways into reading spinoza philosophical bibliotherapy. Spinoza selections by edited by john wild abebooks passion for books. Buy spinozas political and ethical philosophy by robert alexander duff online at alibris. Spinoza selections by edited by john wild abebooks. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Spinozas thought, it is not merely because there are sign of unity in his work, but further because his critics have found such an amazing diversity there.
Most of it consists of an analytic discussion of spinoza s ideas and how they were interpreted and misinterpreted by later commentators. Although reared in the jewish community, he rebelled against its religious views and practices, and in 1656 was formally excommunicated from the portuguesespanish synagogue of amsterdam and was thus effectively cast out of the jewish world. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 186 pages and is available in paperback format. Baruch, or benedictus, spinoza 163277 is the author of works, especially the ethics and the theologicalpolitical treatise, that are a major source of the ideas of the european enlightenment. In the event things got worse, and spinoza gave up the idea of publishing the ethics, believing that it would create such a cloud of hostility as to obscure, in the minds even of reasonable people, the real meaning of its arguments. The first edition of the novel was published in 1677, and was written by baruch spinoza. The main characters of this philosophy, non fiction story are. Without an adequate understanding of what spinoza means by idea, which has nothing at all to do with todays usage, the enormity of the uniqueness of spinoza s epistemological revolution will go unnoticed. I will, however, offer the basic material so that the reader may judge whether i am right or not. Another important feature of spinoza s ethical system is his view of the intellect as active.
A moral, ontological and metaphysical work ethics is an ambitious work and multifaceted. A powerful work of elegant simplicity, the ethics is a brilliantly insightful consideration of the possibility of redemption through intense thought and philosophical reflection. Ethica, ordine geometrico demonstrata, usually known as the ethics, is a philosophical treatise written in latin by baruch spinoza. Spinoza selections by spinoza, edited by john wild and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The philosophy of spinoza by baruch spinoza and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Spinozas contribution to biblical scholarship from the proceedings of the conference on the ttp in t u bingen in 20. Whereas studies of spinoza in english have emphasized the logic of the ethics, these essays instead focus on the marginal and developmental moments that have had such a profound effect on french thought. Discover spinozas philosophy of ratio, from geometry and reason to bodies, affects and architecture. Although it was published posthumously in 1677, it is his most famous work, and is considered his magnum opus. Uncorrected paperswallace matson 4 excellent essays on spinoza start there. The new spinoza articulates that presence, making the influence and significance of spinoza perfectly clear for a new generation of philosophy. Basnages account of spinoza, based mainly on colerus, is on a higher level than most contemporary accounts. Help us create the kind of literary community youve always dreamed of. The book displays a panoramic picture of spinoza scholarship over the last three.
The twentyfive articles collected for this anthology display a wide range of interpretations to central themes in spinoza s philosophy. Here is a spinoza both hauntingly emblematic and deeply human, both heretic and heroa surprisingly contemporary figure ripe for our own uncertain age. At a first look, you may open the book to find dry definitions, arcane axioms and a series of propositions, pareddown to provide an economical and. His exposition of the main lines of spinoza s thought is clear and in my opinion correct. Spinozas ethics is one of the most difficult books in philosophy. It was written between 1661 and 1675 and was first published posthumously in 1677 the book is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to apply the method of euclid in philosophy. In this way, the citizen spinoza also found the agreement and unity with others. The collected works of spinoza provides, for the first time in english, a truly satisfactory edition of all of spinoza s writings, with accurate and readable translations, based on the best critical editions of the originallanguage texts, done by a scholar who has published extensively on the philosophers work. To be free is to be guided by the law of ones own nature which in spinoza s rational universe is never at variance with the law of another nature. Scholarly interest in spinozas philosophy of action today falls along three main axes.
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