Naturalism and Democracy, first published in German in 2014, presents a long-awaited commentary on Spinoza's Political Treatise (Tractatus politicus). It gives a detailed analysis of Spinoza's latest ...theory of State and Law, with special attention to his democratic approach.
13 new essays devoted to exploring Spinoza’s relational account of autonomy and individuality. Integrates different philosophical approaches and styles, from both the analytic and continental ...traditions. Bridges the gap between history of philosophy and contemporary debates. Contributes to debates across fields including Spinoza studies, contemporary political philosophy, ethics, feminist philosophy and the philosophy of action.
An authoritative edition of George Eliot's elegant translation of Spinoza's greatest philosophical work In 1856, Marian Evans completed her translation of Benedict de Spinoza's Ethics while living in ...Berlin with the philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes. This would have become the first edition of Spinoza's controversial masterpiece in English, but the translation remained unpublished because of a disagreement between Lewes and the publisher. Later that year, Evans turned to fiction writing, and by 1859 she had published her first novel under the pseudonym George Eliot. This splendid edition makes Eliot's translation of the Ethics available to today's readers while also tracing Eliot's deep engagement with Spinoza both before and after she wrote the novels that established her as one of English literature's greatest writers.Clare Carlisle's introduction places the Ethics in its seventeenth- century context and explains its key philosophical claims. She discusses George Eliot's intellectual formation, her interest in Spinoza, the circumstances of her translation of the Ethics, and the influence of Spinoza's ideas on her literary work. Carlisle shows how Eliot drew on Spinoza's radical insights on religion, ethics, and human emotions, and brings to light surprising affinities between Spinoza's austere philosophy and the rich fictional worlds of Eliot's novels.This authoritative edition demonstrates why George Eliot's translation remains one of the most compelling and philosophically astute renderings of Spinoza's Latin text. It includes notes that indicate Eliot's amendments to her manuscript and that discuss her translation decisions alongside more recent English editions.
This work examines the unique way in which Benedict de Spinoza (1632–77) combines two significant philosophical principles: that real existence requires causal power and that geometrical objects ...display exceptionally clearly how things have properties in virtue of their essences. Valtteri Viljanen argues that underlying Spinoza's psychology and ethics is a compelling metaphysical theory according to which each and every genuine thing is an entity of power endowed with an internal structure akin to that of geometrical objects. This allows Spinoza to offer a theory of existence and of action - human and non-human alike - as dynamic striving that takes place with the same kind of necessity and intelligibility that pertain to geometry. Viljanen's fresh and original study will interest a wide range of readers in Spinoza studies and early modern philosophy more generally.
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 theEthics,argues Steven B. Smith in this ...intriguing book. Offering a new reading of Spinoza's masterpiece, Smith asserts that the Ethics is a celebration of human freedom and its attendant joys and responsibilities and should be placed among the great founding documents of the Enlightenment.
Two aspects of Smith's book distinguish it from other studies. It treats the famous "geometrical method" of theEthicsas a form of moral rhetoric, a model for the construction of individuality. And it presents theEthicsas a companion to Spinoza's major work of political philosophy, theTheologico-Political Treatise,each work helping to explore the problem of freedom. Affirming Spinoza's centrality for both critics and defenders of modernity, the book will be of value to students of political theory, philosophy, and intellectual history.
Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise was published anonymously in 1670 and immediately provoked huge debate. Its main goal was to claim that the freedom of philosophizing can be allowed in a free ...republic and that it cannot be abolished without also destroying the peace and piety of that republic. Spinoza criticizes the traditional claims of revelation and offers a social contract theory in which he praises democracy as the most natural form of government. This Critical Guide presents essays by well-known scholars in the field and covers a broad range of topics, including the political theory and the metaphysics of the work, religious toleration, the reception of the text by other early modern philosophers and the relation of the text to Jewish thought. It offers valuable perspectives on this important and influential work.
These essays explore the surprisingly varied dimensions of ratio: an unacknowledged keystone of Spinoza's thought. They take you from Spinoza's geometrical diagrams to his concepts of mind, body, the ...emotions and the cosmos.
