Screen LibraryThe Cambridge companion to Spinoza /
"In many ways, Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza appears to be a contradictory figure in the history of philosophy. From the beginning, he has been notorious as an "atheist" who seeks to substitute Nature for a personal deity; yet he was also, in Novalis's famous description, "th...
Saved in:
| Group Author: | |
|---|---|
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press,
|
| Publisher Address: | Cambridge, United Kingdom : |
| Publication Dates: | 2022. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Edition: | Second edition. |
| Series: |
Cambridge companions to philosophy
|
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"In many ways, Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza appears to be a contradictory figure in the history of philosophy. From the beginning, he has been notorious as an "atheist" who seeks to substitute Nature for a personal deity; yet he was also, in Novalis's famous description, "the God-intoxicated man." He was an uncompromising necessitarian and causal determinist; yet his ethical ideal was to become a "free man." He maintained that the human mind and the human body are identical; yet he also insisted that the human mind can achieve a kind of eternality that transcends the death of the body. He has been adopted by Marxists as a precursor of historical materialism, and by Hegelians as a precursor of absolute idealism. He was a psychological egoist, proclaiming that all individuals necessarily seek their own advantage and implying that other individuals were of value to him only insofar as they were useful to him; yet his writings aimed to promote human community based on love and friendship, he had many devoted friends, and even his critics were obliged to acknowledge that his personal conduct was above reproach. He held that the state has the right to do whatever it has the power to do, while at the same time he defended democracy and freedom of speech. He denied supernatural revelation and criticized popular religion as a grave danger to the peace and stability of the state; yet he devoted himself to the careful interpretation of scripture and argued for toleration and freedom of religion. Rarely employing figures of speech or rhetorical flourishes of any kind, his works are nevertheless among the most magisterial and uplifting of all philosophical writings, and they have inspired more poets and novelists than those of any other philosopher of the early modern period"-- |
| Carrier Form: | x, 481 pages ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 444-474) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781107479876 1107479878 9781107096165 1107096162 |
| Index Number: | B3998 |
| CLC: | B563.1 |
| Call Number: | B563.1/C178/2nd ed. |
| Contents: |
Spinoza's life / Spinoza's metaphysics of substance / Spinoza on the metaphysics of thought and extension / Spinoza's epistemology / Spinoza on natural science and methodology / Spinoza's metaphysical psychology / Spinoza's ethical theory / Kissinger, Spinoza, and Genghis Khan / Spinoza's philosophical religion / Spinoza's contribution to biblical scholarship / Spinoza's reception / |