Augustine and Spinoza
Augustine and Spinoza

Author: Milad Doueihi

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 0674050630

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Election and grace are two key concepts that not only have shaped the relations between Judaism and Christianity, but also have formed a cornerstone of the Western philosophical discourse on the evolution and progress of humanity. Though Augustine and Spinoza can be shown to share a methodological approach to these concepts, their conclusions remain radically different. For the Church Father Augustine, grace defines human nature by the potential availability of divine intervention, thus setting the stage for the institutional and political legitimacy of the Church, the Christian state, and its justice. For Spinoza, on the other hand, election represents a unique but local form of divine intervention, marked by geography and historical context. Milad Doueihi maps out the consequences of such an encounter between these two thinkers in terms of their philosophical heritage and its continued relevance for contemporary discussions of religious diversity and autonomy. Augustine asserts a theological foundation for the political, whereas Spinoza radically separates philosophy, and thus authority, from theology in order to solicit a political democracy. In this sharply argued and deeply learned book, Milad Doueihi shows us how interconnections between the two thinkers have come to shape Western philosophy.

Spinoza's Religion
Spinoza's Religion

Author: Clare Carlisle

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-09-07

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 069122420X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A bold reevaluation of Spinoza that reveals his powerful, inclusive vision of religion for the modern age Spinoza is widely regarded as either a God-forsaking atheist or a God-intoxicated pantheist, but Clare Carlisle says that he was neither. In Spinoza’s Religion, she sets out a bold interpretation of Spinoza through a lucid new reading of his masterpiece, the Ethics. Putting the question of religion centre-stage but refusing to convert Spinozism to Christianity, Carlisle reveals that “being in God” unites Spinoza’s metaphysics and ethics. Spinoza’s Religion unfolds a powerful, inclusive philosophical vision for the modern age—one that is grounded in a profound questioning of how to live a joyful, fully human life. Like Spinoza himself, the Ethics doesn’t fit into any ready-made religious category. But Carlisle shows how it wrestles with the question of religion in strikingly original ways, responding both critically and constructively to the diverse, broadly Christian context in which Spinoza lived and worked. Philosophy itself, as Spinoza practiced it, became a spiritual endeavor that expressed his devotion to a truthful, virtuous way of life. Offering startling new insights into Spinoza’s famously enigmatic ideas about eternal life and the intellectual love of God, Carlisle uncovers a Spinozist religion that integrates self-knowledge, desire, practice, and embodied ethical life to reach toward our “highest happiness”—to rest in God. Seen through Carlisle’s eyes, the Ethics prompts us to rethink not only Spinoza but also religion itself.

Spinoza's Book of Life
Spinoza's Book of Life

Author: Steven B. Smith

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0300128495

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Spinoza
Spinoza

Author: Devra Lehmann

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Published: 2024-08-13

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1644212633

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An entertaining and accessible introduction to the radical philosopher of freedom of thought and religion is the only biography of Spinoza for young adults. The second title in the Philosophy for Young People series. A brilliant schoolboy in 17th-century Amsterdam, Bento Spinoza -- formally Baruch and later Benedict de Spinoza -- quickly learns to keep his ideas to himself. When he is 23, those ideas prove so scandalous to his own Jewish community that he is cast out, cursed, and effectively erased from their communal life. The scandal shows no sign of waning as his ideas spread throughout Europe. At the center of the storm, he lives the simplest of lives, quietly devoted to his work as a lens grinder and to his steadfast search for truth, striving to embody a philosophy of tolerance and benevolence. Spinoza does not live to see his ideas change the world. What caused such an uproar? Spinoza challenged age-old ideas about God, the Bible, and religion. His God was the sum total of nature, not a father-figure who created the world and takes care of humankind. His bible was a book like any other, not a holy text to be interpreted only by religious authorities. His religion was a commitment to basic moral behavior, not a collection of superstitions or rituals. For such ideas, Spinoza was reviled, but he emerged from his experience as one of history's most articulate voices for freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion. Those of us who enjoy the fundamental rights of modern democracies are the beneficiaries of Spinoza's quiet bravery. Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker is the second book in the new Philosophy for Young People series, introducing readers to seminal philosophers from ancient times up through the present day.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Spinoza
The Bloomsbury Handbook of Spinoza

Author: Wiep van Bunge

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-08-22

Total Pages: 582

ISBN-13: 1350256447

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This 2nd edition Handbook of Spinoza retains a unique focus on the biographical details of Spinoza's life, as well as essential scholarship on his influences and early critics. A glossary of key Latin Spinozan terms with English translations remains a key feature alongside short synopses of Spinoza's writings. Adding to the updated contemporary scholarship on Spinoza from across Europe and the US is the recognition of Spinoza's influence more globally. Distinct from other reference works on Spinoza, this book offers the tools and methodology necessary for students and scholars who are completing their own research. Accompanying each main section is an updated and detailed bibliography that situates both the summative and original scholarship therein. This 2nd edition includes a revised biography from Jeroen van de Ven who has systematically revisited the archive; influences will now include reference to Machiavelli and Hobbes primarily, as well as remarks on the De La Court brothers, La Perèyre, and Delmedigo. A new entry on the critic, Willem van Blijenbergh, alongside a reconstruction of dozens of letters now lost from Spinoza consolidates new directions of study which are supported by additional glossary terms on Axioma (cf. Ordo geometricus), Definitio (ibid.), Excommunicare, Lumen, Methodus, Negatio, Pax, Ratio, (Cf. Cognitio), Scientia intuitiva, and Tempus amongst others. Maintaining an approach that is refreshingly independent of the historicist/analytic/continental divide, this work features scholars from across these traditions, and remains an essential point of reference for students and scholars alike.