(1632-1677) philosopher
During the 17th century, the country of the Netherlands was unique in Europe for possessing an open tolerance of new and unorthodox ideas. Because of this, it became a center of science, art, and philosophy. This time period is known as the Dutch Golden Age, during which many brilliant artists, writers, and thinkers made extraordinary achievements. One of the greatest philosophers who worked in the Netherlands during the Dutch Golden Age was Benedictus de Spinoza.
Spinoza was the son of Jewish parents who fled the anti-Semitic persecutions of Portugal and settled in the city of Amsterdam. Unlike other nations, the Netherlands permitted Jews to practice their religion freely. As a young man, Spinoza was educated according to Jewish tradition and intended to become a businessman, but he was also fascinated by science and philosophy. In 1656 the Jewish leaders of Amsterdam angrily excommunicated Spinoza for criticizing biblical scriptures, casting him out of the Dutch Jewish community forever. Most likely, his unusual philosophical and religious ideas upset the tradition-minded Jewish leaders.
Spinoza spent the rest of his life studying philosophy and producing his own philosophical works. Although he was given an inheritance by his father, Spinoza gave it away and supported himself financially by working as a lens grinder. After his excommunication, he became a loner, concentrating exclusively on his philosophy and his writings. Only one of his works, A Theologico-Political Treatise (1670), was published during his lifetime.
In terms of his philosophy, Spinoza was heavily influenced by medieval Jewish thought, as well as the more contemporary philosophy of Rene descartes, which is especially evident in Spinoza’s belief that the philosophical foundations of the universe might be understandable in the same precise manner as geometry. In other words, Spinoza believed that if one started with a few basic and self-evident truths, all other truths about the universe could be deduced; in geometry, all geometric facts can be deduced from a few basic geometric axioms.
Much of Spinoza’s philosophy deals with his ideas concerning God, which were very different from most theological concepts. Rather than perceiving God as a separate being, Spinoza saw God as being an all-encompassing entity. In other words, everything that existed was part of or caused by God. This theological idea is known as pantheism. Spinoza’s ideas about pantheism would greatly influence many thinkers in later centuries. However, the unusual nature of the idea at the time led to charges that Spinoza was an atheist.
Spinoza’s most famous and lasting work is undoubtedly Ethics, which he finished around 1665 (published 1677). It essentially sums up all of Spinoza’s thoughts concerning religion, philosophy, and morality, and is considered to be one of the most original philosophical works in Western history.
Ethics is divided into five books, each dealing with a particular aspect of Spinoza’s philosophy. Throughout the work, the author organizes his writing in the manner of a complicated geometry problem, laying out a number of axioms and propositions that lead to logical conclusions.
The first book of Ethics is titled On God and expresses the pantheism that marked Spinoza as a truly unique philosopher. The other books discuss his views on metaphysics and human morality. He denied the existence of free will, believing that everything that occurred must come from logical necessity.
Spinoza was highly regarded by Albert Einstein, and his work influenced the development of German philosophy, as well as such writers and philosophers as lessing, herder, and goethe.
English Versions of Works by Benedictus de Spinoza
Correspondence of Spinoza. Translated by A. Wolf. Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, 2003.
Ethics: Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect and Selected Letters. Translated by Samuel Shirley. Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Publishing, 1998.
The Collected Works of Spinoza. Translated by Edwin Curley. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985.
Works about Benedictus de Spinoza
Gullan-Whur, Margaret. Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
Nadler, Steven. Spinoza: A Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
