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A Spinoza Reader: The Ethics and Other Works
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. Perfect for course use, the Spinoza Reader is a practical tool with which to approach one of the world's greatest but most difficult thinkers, a passionate seeker of the truth who has been viewed by some as an atheist and by others as a religious mystic.
The anthology begins with the opening section of the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect , which has always moved readers by its description of the young Spinoza's spiritual quest, his dissatisfaction with the things people ordinarily strive for--wealth, honor, and sensual pleasure--and his hope that the pursuit of knowledge would lead him to discover the true good. The emphasis throughout these selections is on metaphysical, epistemological, and religious the existence and nature of God, his relation to the world, the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body, and the theory of demonstration, axioms, and definitions. For each of these topics, the editor supplements the rigorous discussions in the Ethics with informal treatments from Spinoza's other works.
The anthology begins with the opening section of the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect , which has always moved readers by its description of the young Spinoza's spiritual quest, his dissatisfaction with the things people ordinarily strive for--wealth, honor, and sensual pleasure--and his hope that the pursuit of knowledge would lead him to discover the true good. The emphasis throughout these selections is on metaphysical, epistemological, and religious the existence and nature of God, his relation to the world, the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body, and the theory of demonstration, axioms, and definitions. For each of these topics, the editor supplements the rigorous discussions in the Ethics with informal treatments from Spinoza's other works.
280 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 1994
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951 people want to read
About the author
Baruch Spinoza
927 books1,989 followersControversial pantheistic doctrine of Dutch philosopher and theologian Baruch Spinoza or Benedict advocated an intellectual love of God; people best know
Ethics
, his work of 1677.
People came considered this great rationalist of 17th century.
In his posthumous magnum opus, he opposed mind–body dualism of René Descartes and earned recognition of most important thinkers of west. This last indisputable Latin masterpiece, which Spinoza wrote, finally turns and entirely destroys the refined medieval conceptions.
After death of Baruch Spinoza, often Benedictus de Spinoza, people realized not fully his breadth and importance until many years. He laid the ground for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern Biblical criticism, including conceptions of the self and arguably the universe. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said of all contemporaries, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."
People came considered this great rationalist of 17th century.
In his posthumous magnum opus, he opposed mind–body dualism of René Descartes and earned recognition of most important thinkers of west. This last indisputable Latin masterpiece, which Spinoza wrote, finally turns and entirely destroys the refined medieval conceptions.
After death of Baruch Spinoza, often Benedictus de Spinoza, people realized not fully his breadth and importance until many years. He laid the ground for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern Biblical criticism, including conceptions of the self and arguably the universe. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said of all contemporaries, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 12, 2023
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 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.
June 22, 2022
Think of the most difficult and at the same time worthy thing you have ever done. 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!
“All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.” Enough said!
September 5, 2009
When millenia-old waking nightmare that is Western history is finally over, and people wonder if any good ever shone through the brutality of our collective madness, they will be able to point to Spinoza's Ethics. The Ethics is not a book, it is a monument to thought and freedom.
July 31, 2021
Second complete read through, but I've probably leafed through this one more than any other book. Completely altered my approach to life at 21 or so when I really desperately needed it. This reading was less transformative, but only because the ideas have been so firmly planted in my head that this was more of a refinement and affirmation. I always find what I'm looking for in The Ethics.
My first time through, I needed the line "Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself." I understood this to mean (in part) that it is not by mutilating the self, cultivating self-hatred and bodily mortification that one finally becomes "virtuous" and achieves the "good," but rather it is by striving for joy, empathy, understanding and satisfaction that one finds the good, which is virtue itself. "No one can desire to be blessed, to act well, and to live well, without at the same time wishing to be, act, and to live-in other words, to actually exist." IVP21. These were the words I needed this time around. Beyond the individual wants and desires and needs there perseveres at least this preliminary and abiding desire to strive to keep having experiences and discover more things, that is, the striving to live and exist. In order even to be sad one must still recognize this underlying desire. For even those who strive to persist in hating others, cultivate envy, jealousy, nihilism, guilt, shame, and disgust must strive to persist in their being and strive to live in order to persevere in this way of live, and, in a confused way, still strive to live and love nature/god/perfection/reality/desire. Even recognition of this leads me to love the world more than I do at any passionate moment and live in a satisfied understanding way. Only Spinoza could write a geometrically organized tract on god that seems to speak so directly to you the reader, as if he were speaking to a close friend or lover.
I come away with a renewed love of nature and a renewed love and appreciation for the absolute weirdo, and man so far out of step with his time, Spinoza.
My first time through, I needed the line "Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself." I understood this to mean (in part) that it is not by mutilating the self, cultivating self-hatred and bodily mortification that one finally becomes "virtuous" and achieves the "good," but rather it is by striving for joy, empathy, understanding and satisfaction that one finds the good, which is virtue itself. "No one can desire to be blessed, to act well, and to live well, without at the same time wishing to be, act, and to live-in other words, to actually exist." IVP21. These were the words I needed this time around. Beyond the individual wants and desires and needs there perseveres at least this preliminary and abiding desire to strive to keep having experiences and discover more things, that is, the striving to live and exist. In order even to be sad one must still recognize this underlying desire. For even those who strive to persist in hating others, cultivate envy, jealousy, nihilism, guilt, shame, and disgust must strive to persist in their being and strive to live in order to persevere in this way of live, and, in a confused way, still strive to live and love nature/god/perfection/reality/desire. Even recognition of this leads me to love the world more than I do at any passionate moment and live in a satisfied understanding way. Only Spinoza could write a geometrically organized tract on god that seems to speak so directly to you the reader, as if he were speaking to a close friend or lover.
I come away with a renewed love of nature and a renewed love and appreciation for the absolute weirdo, and man so far out of step with his time, Spinoza.
January 18, 2011
Spinoza's philosophy will change your life! At the very least, it will frustrate the hell out of you.
November 26, 2019
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'.
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'.
September 3, 2018
Hard to imagine now how shocking this was in 1664 ("God is not a person; there is no free will; tolerance is the only rational politics").
Trying to understand Spinoza without Curley's notes (which are about twice as long as the primary material) is a decade's work.
Trying to understand Spinoza without Curley's notes (which are about twice as long as the primary material) is a decade's work.
October 27, 2012
Spinoza is essential. Read it slowly and carefully.
December 17, 2017
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.
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.
July 14, 2015
The works of Spinoza should be on the shelf of every curious mind searching to build arguments against Descartes. Spinoza is an essential to understanding contemporary philosophy of mind. I read him more than any other philosopher of the period. Does one need to understand Descartes in order to understand Spinoza? Yes. One must read Spinoza to understand Descartes as well. These two philosophers gave birth to all philosophical works in their wake. Spinoza is a key for understanding Hegel.
April 12, 2020
He's the man. The geometric method is tedious. But the best bits are the very best. And inspired Paine, my favourite author.
Per Bert. Russ.: "The noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers. Intellectually some others have surpassed him. But Ethically he is supreme. As a natural consequence, he was considered a man of appalling wickedness.
Per Bert. Russ.: "The noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers. Intellectually some others have surpassed him. But Ethically he is supreme. As a natural consequence, he was considered a man of appalling wickedness.
March 12, 2019
Excellent build up with smaller letters and writings from Spinoza, building up to the arguments he would expand on in The Ethics, many of which help make stuff that would be very confusing in that work clearer.
October 27, 2008
i think i was dreaming with open eyes.
October 29, 2012
Simply brilliant.
August 20, 2019
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.
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.
May 14, 2017
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.
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.
July 21, 2022
Excruciating read—demonstrates the existence of God from the definition of God, just as the sum of the angles defines a triangle. Multiple definitions, axioms and the like, not of contemporary interest or use. Amply repetitious.
March 12, 2019
*Only read the Ethics, but I'm going to count it.
February 19, 2020
A heterodox Jew who was oppressed by his society; interesting introduction to monism and the philosophical justification for such a concept; parallels to immanence in sufi/eastern thought
November 22, 2021
At first I thought this was demented. Then it grew on me. I still think you have to be a very anxious person to want to explain everything in order to be happy, but who am I to judge?
December 25, 2021
So rich and so many more I still need to work through....
February 11, 2023
eat my shorts, spinoza pfft! 😠
February 26, 2024
very confusing. interesting style of philosophy tho very mathematical, everything and everyone being an extension of god is also a very interesting concept.
Read
June 25, 2024assigned: Part I, and Part II up to and including the scholium to proposition 13
September 8, 2024
It's incredible that this was written 350 years ago and still carries so much important metaphysical relevance
April 7, 2025
The philosophy is hard work but worth it.
Read
March 6, 2016A 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. Why? 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.
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. Why? 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.
December 12, 2008
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.
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.
June 2, 2009
okay, the ethics was probably the most pivotal piece of literature i have ever read. however, anyone hoping to obtain as much from it as possible must read the theological-political treatise first, because it puts in a figurative context the ideas that spinoza later abstracts geometrically in the ethics, and it's important to see the progression of his ideas as he worked on the ethics... unless of course you feel like laboring unnecessarily over it.
July 29, 2007
god = nature; love = the feeling of joy accompanied by the idea of an external cause; the human right to do x = the power/ability of a human to do x
fuckyess
fuckyess
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews