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This anthology of the work of Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) presents the text of Spinoza's masterwork, the Ethics, in what is now the standard translation by Edwin Curley. Also included are selections from other works by Spinoza, chosen by Curley to make the Ethics easier to understand, and a substantial introduction that gives an overview of Spinoza's life and the main This anthology of the work of Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) presents the text of Spinoza's masterwork, the Ethics, in what is now the standard translation by Edwin Curley.
Also included are selections from other works by Spinoza, chosen by Curley to make the Ethics easier to understand, and a substantial introduction that gives an overview of Spinoza's life and the main themes of his philosophy. Think of the most difficult and at the same time worthy thing you have done in your life.
This book will not be read or understood by 99.999 percent of the human population; still, it is worth reading because it can change your life. Jews are still trying to effectively respond to Spinoza and that's not said lightly. Not much needs to be said. The final quote from the Ethics like the main quote from any religion suffices: “If the way I have shown to lead to these things now seems very hard, Think of the most difficult and at the same time worthy thing you have done in your life. This book will not be read or understood by 99.999 percent of the human population; still, it is worth reading because it can change your life.
Jews are still trying to effectively respond to Spinoza and that's not said lightly. Not much needs to be said. The final quote from the Ethics like the main quote from any religion suffices: “If the way I have shown to lead to these things now seems very hard, still, it can be found. And of course, what is found so rarely must be hard. For if salvation were at hand, and could be found without great effort, how could nearly everyone neglect it?
But all excellent things are as difficult as they are rare”.“All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.” Enough said! This was a very difficult read, and it took a long time for me to complete it. I enjoyed this edition especially because the pre-Ethics stuff was much more straight-forward and was written in a more natural voice.The geometric method seemed similar to what I've read of Hegel. I enjoyed the format of the preposition (the statement) and the demonstration (explaining why the statement is true), and then usually a scholium (more commentary on the statement, typically taking it in an interesting This was a very difficult read, and it took a long time for me to complete it. I enjoyed this edition especially because the pre-Ethics stuff was much more straight-forward and was written in a more natural voice.The geometric method seemed similar to what I've read of Hegel. I enjoyed the format of the preposition (the statement) and the demonstration (explaining why the statement is true), and then usually a scholium (more commentary on the statement, typically taking it in an interesting direction, or connecting it to previous ideas).
I find with some philosophy texts its difficult to get to the writer's point - what it is he is trying to tell you - as it's buried in the text. This method allows the reader to see clearly what Spinoza is saying. (And it reduces the need for a highlighter.)That being said, this is still a very difficult text as it's a difficult subject and he's very thorough.
The God part was confusing, as he seemed to be using the word 'God' in a way that is not the way Church-goers would use the word. The ultimate end of the man who is led by reason, that is, his highest desire, by which he strives to moderate all the others, is that by which he is led to conceive adequately both himself and all things which can fall under his understanding.The central role of reason in Spinoza's philosophy borders on the mystical. To the extent that we conform to reason, we conform to the true nature of reality.
What is good is what is realized upon reason. God is pure reason. The ethical human being in the The ultimate end of the man who is led by reason, that is, his highest desire, by which he strives to moderate all the others, is that by which he is led to conceive adequately both himself and all things which can fall under his understanding.The central role of reason in Spinoza's philosophy borders on the mystical. To the extent that we conform to reason, we conform to the true nature of reality.
What is good is what is realized upon reason. God is pure reason. The ethical human being in the Spinozist conception consists of an almost monastic dedication to reason, through which joy is realized. Not sure of its veracity, but of all the pseudo-religious philosophies out there, this is the one I would be willing to make the leap of faith on. There is joy in returning to a thinker after a quarter century. I read Spinoza in my first semester of graduate school and hadn't ever occasioned to read him again until these last few weeks. I did this time read parts of this anthology and of his masterwork, The Ethics, that I did not read the first time around.Apparently in class in 1996 we were focused on his metaphysics, so this time I enjoyed reading some of his biblical hermeneutics, psychology, and moral and political thought.
I feel as There is joy in returning to a thinker after a quarter century. I read Spinoza in my first semester of graduate school and hadn't ever occasioned to read him again until these last few weeks. I did this time read parts of this anthology and of his masterwork, The Ethics, that I did not read the first time around.Apparently in class in 1996 we were focused on his metaphysics, so this time I enjoyed reading some of his biblical hermeneutics, psychology, and moral and political thought. I feel as if I come away with a better grasp of Spinoza, his role in the history of ideas, and his influence upon later thinkers.I was surprised to find some wise aphorisms in The Ethics, which reminded me of Marcus Aurelius. Here are a few examples: 'He who lives according to the guidance of reason will strive, as far as he can, to bring it about that he is not troubled with affects of hate, and consequently will strive that the other also should not undergo those affects.' 'A free man thinks of nothing less than of death, and his wisdom is a meditation on life, not on death.'
'A free man who lives among the ignorant strives, as far as he can, to avoid their favors.' 'The proud man loves the presence of parasites, or flatterers, but hates the presence of the noble.' But then there are the puzzling ones as well, such as 'There are no affects of hope or fear without sadness. There is no hope without fear.' 'Humility is not a virtue, or does not arise from reason.' 'He who loves God cannot strive that God should love him in return.' Spinoza's work is an extreme expression of the life of reason.
This is more fully embodied in his geometric approach to philosophy, presenting definition, axioms, and postulates that makes his masterwork awkward to read.But as an expression of the life of reason, his philosophy possesses admirable qualities. It represents a high (yet impossible) ideal-the closing line of The Ethics is 'But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.'
But I find him overall to be obtuse and wrongheaded, particularly in his metaphysics which undergirds everything else. The Ethics was one of the first philosophy books that I've read, and it was one of the few books that I can say changed my view on the world.
After finishing, I felt as if the world suddenly made sense to me. It's astounding the responses Spinoza gives to common questions regarding morality, God, society, etc.And how it all fits together neatly into his geometrical system.Now, of course, looking back, the Ethics is not without faults from an ethical standpoint-justifying ethical intuitions by The Ethics was one of the first philosophy books that I've read, and it was one of the few books that I can say changed my view on the world. After finishing, I felt as if the world suddenly made sense to me. It's astounding the responses Spinoza gives to common questions regarding morality, God, society, etc.And how it all fits together neatly into his geometrical system.Now, of course, looking back, the Ethics is not without faults from an ethical standpoint-justifying ethical intuitions by appealing to metaphysics, while understandable for its time, would no longer be acceptable in modern-day ethical studies. In fact, it almost seems like most philosophers ignore the 'ethics' part of the Ethics and decide to concentrate more on the metaphysics part-and for good reason, too. Nonetheless Spinoza is a philosopher in whom one can find so many insightful comments and concepts, not just from his books, but also from his life.I remember taking a walk after reading the Ethics the first time around, to absorb what I had just read. A book that inspires that kind of wonder is 'excellent as they are rare'.
A decidedly well organized edition of Spinoza's Ethics. The organization easily lead the reader through Spinoza's thoughts and history as it relates to the development of his master work.To speak specifically to The Ethics, this is a surprisingly good demonstration of some problems with Descartes' work which could be done more simply because of Spinoza's lack of relation to a Religion after being kicked out of his Jewish community. In particular, The Ethics, if anything, is an excellent A decidedly well organized edition of Spinoza's Ethics. The organization easily lead the reader through Spinoza's thoughts and history as it relates to the development of his master work.To speak specifically to The Ethics, this is a surprisingly good demonstration of some problems with Descartes' work which could be done more simply because of Spinoza's lack of relation to a Religion after being kicked out of his Jewish community. In particular, The Ethics, if anything, is an excellent demonstration of a philosophical approach (rather than a purely mathematical approach) to axiomatic methodology on topics of ethics and religion.As a person raised in the Bible Belt who has had difficulty with institutions of formal religions, but still finds a strong relationship with a pantheistic perspective, this book put into words many of the thoughts and topics I have had to explain to my friends. Now I can reference many of Spinoza's ideas directly rather than having to build from scratch my own thoughts when discussing personal ethics and religion with my friends. A Spinoza Reader is a good book; the little introduction and excerpts from works previous to the Ethics helped me form a 'clear and distinct' idea of Spinoza and his work.
I think he's only interesting historically, and I do not get why people rate his philosophy highly still.Clearly he was an intelligent man, and was able to expose the gaps in his contemporaries' theories concisely. I think he had a lot of good ideas, and really did pre-empt a lot of philosophy and psychology to come. However, A Spinoza Reader is a good book; the little introduction and excerpts from works previous to the Ethics helped me form a 'clear and distinct' idea of Spinoza and his work. I think he's only interesting historically, and I do not get why people rate his philosophy highly still.Clearly he was an intelligent man, and was able to expose the gaps in his contemporaries' theories concisely. I think he had a lot of good ideas, and really did pre-empt a lot of philosophy and psychology to come.
However, the way he presents and reasons out those good ideas is torturous, and first leads through a swampy land of supposedly self-evident axioms and propositions (beware, if you stand in place too long, trying to tie together a proposition and its precedents, you will sink into that swamp). I don't get him. He takes up the interesting and perhaps noble idea of geometerising a philosophy of ethics from first principles, but then resists describing nature with mathematics.
Instead he battles with the ambiguity of words. Substance, essence, infinities, modes. If he had been born a bit earlier he might have fit in nicely with scholasticism (what if he had been born later?). Why do so many others rate him so highly? Perhaps they are overly impressed with the style? As Spinoza seems to imply in the last sentence: if it's difficult to comprehend it must be excellent?
I don't deny it was a great work. WAS a great work. On the other hand, it's no tragedy if people decide to live by the Ethics; they would good people by anybody's measure - just don't bring up gods or infinity.side note: I really appreciate the letters included in the book - they show to me his private and publish writings are alike in their obfuscation.I wanted to like Spinoza. Some things he wrote seem golden and still relevant, but much of it is just tripe. Don't know what to rate this one! Just happy to move on.
Hegel said 'You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all'. I consider myself warned. I am still in the process of tackling the Ethics. Througout his life Spinoza sought to find the proper expression of his metaphysical hypothesis that the univese was a unitary whole. Spinoza was concerned with the God of the Philosophers and not the God of Scriptures or the religionists.
He is often misunderstood to be an atheist because of his rationalist approach to philosophical inquiry. His ideas got him ejected (excommunicated) from his synagouge.Because of his rationalist convictions I am still in the process of tackling the Ethics. Througout his life Spinoza sought to find the proper expression of his metaphysical hypothesis that the univese was a unitary whole. Spinoza was concerned with the God of the Philosophers and not the God of Scriptures or the religionists. He is often misunderstood to be an atheist because of his rationalist approach to philosophical inquiry. His ideas got him ejected (excommunicated) from his synagouge.Because of his rationalist convictions Spinoza sought to express his philosophy in geometric form.This book contains other works including his critique of traditional religion - a must read.
Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher. The breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until many years after his death. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and, arguably, the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy.His magnum Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher. The breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until many years after his death. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and, arguably, the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy.His magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes' mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy's most important thinkers. In the Ethics, 'Spinoza wrote the last indisputable Latin masterpiece, and one in which the refined conceptions of medieval philosophy are finally turned against themselves and destroyed entirely.' Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said of all contemporary philosophers, 'You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all.'