If one wanted to summarize the life of Baruch Spinoza in just one word, “controversial” might do it. He was attacked so often, including once with a knife, that he wore a signet ring with the word ‘cautiously’ inscribed in Latin. Many of his works were published pseudonymously or after his death due to their content. And Spinoza was forced to move several times because of the hostility he faced, especially from the Jewish community he grew up in. Given the views he advocated (a non-benevolent God equivalent to nature, denial of the soul, determinism, secular governance), this is not a surprise.
It must be pleasing for those who work on Spinoza to see his work providing so much use this long after his death. While many of the things he sought have been brought into being, albeit in imperfect form, we still find uses for his work in the present. His thoughts on consciousness, materialism, and the relationship between mind and body inform our contemporary discussions of psychology, education, morality, and more. Spinoza is a model that many of us can learn from, even as we continue to measure his philosophy against new empirical research.
- John Grey, “Reply to Nadler: Spinoza and the metaphysics of suicide,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, March 2017.
- Andy Blunden, “Spinoza in the history of cultural psychology and activity theory,” Mind, Culture & Activity, October-December 2018.
- Wolff-Michael Roth, “Thinking with Spinoza about ‘hands-on’ learning,” Educational Philosophy & Theory, August 2018.
- Oberto Marrama, “Consciousness, ideas of ideas and animation in Spinoza’s Ethics,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, May 2017.
- Albert Gootjes, “The First Orchestrated Attack on Spinoza: Johannes Melchioris and the Cartesian Network in Utrecht,” Journal of the History of Ideas, January 2018.
See the Routledge APA member page for more books on Spinoza. APA members get a 20% discount on all books.
*
Have a suggestion for the What Are You Reading column? Contact us here.
Coincidentally, I just started reading The Book of God last night. Don’t know why Spinoza did not get more attention. His writings are simple but very deep. He found God in everything. I am not a religious person but he speaks to me in greater ways than any Christian or Jew could. I first read about him, a few years ago, in The Spinoza Problem: A Novel. A very good read.
I majored in Philosophy in the mid-seventies but never read, studied or even knew about him. He was way ahead of his time. A very important philosopher. I’m 66 years old and decided I should start learning about this amazing man.
Gilles Deleuze’s book, “Expressionism in Philosophy–Spinoza”, is a penetrating way to go toward grasping Spinoza, especially if you majored in philosophy. I’m late in coming to Spinoza, and not a philosophy wonk, but Deleuze, brings some humanism to Spinoza’s geometric logic. Beth Lord’s Guide to Spinoza is a nice pocket accompaniment.
I was once asked by a friend, “Why Spinoza? What do you recommend about him?” My response was almost thoughtlessly immediate: “His affirmation.” I”m 73 years old, have been studying Spinoza mostly on my own for at least 15 years. The challenge I’m faced with today is that I am so taken with Spinoza that when faced in conversation concerning morality generally I wish I had the glib comprehensiveness to bridge the different worlds without taking the air out of the conversation. Sometimes his thought almost makes me feel I don’t belong to this world-mentality anymore. I don’t ‘get’ his Blessedness, but I love his psychology.