Filsafat Spinoza

by Frederick Charles Copleston

BARUCH SPINOZA lahir di Amsterdam pada tanggal 24 November 1632. Dia berasal dari keluarga Yahudi Portugis yang berimigrasi ke Belanda menjelang akhir abad keenam belas. Ide yang paling mencolok dari filosofi Spinoza adalah bahwa hanya ada satu substansi, substansi ketuhanan yang tak terbatas yang diidentifikasi dengan Alam; Deus sive Natura. Karya utamanya yang berjudul Etika bukanlah tanpa maksud apa-apa: ia tertarik terhadap pencapaian kedamaian pikiran yang sejati dan pembebasan manusia dari perbudakan nafsu. Dalam pernyataan terkenal pada pembukaan Traktat tentang Perbaikan dan Pemahaman ia membicarakan pengalamannya tentang kesombongan dan kesia-siaan dari kekayaan, ketenaran, dan kenikmatan, tentang pencarian kebahagiaan tertinggi dan kebaikan paling agung, karena “cinta terhadap suatu hal yang abadi dan tidak terbatas itu sendiri memberikan kedamaian bagi pikiran, dan membebaskan dari seluruh rasa sakit; karenanya itu sangat diidamkan dan dicari melalui segenap kekuatan kita”. Tentu saja, menafsirkan Spinoza adalah hal yang penting dan berbagai istilah dan frase-frase harus dipahami dalam arti definisinya dan tidak dalam arti ‘bahasa biasa’. Buku ini menyajikan penafsiran tersebut sehingga pembaca akan lebih mudah untuk mendekati maksud-maksud Spinoza. Buku Seri Tokoh Filsafat diterjemahkan dari karya termasyhur Frederick Charles Copleston, seorang pendeta Yesuit Inggris, yang sebelumnya diterbitkan dalam sembilan jilid antara tahun 1946 dan 1975. Sebagaimana dicatat oleh The Encyclopedia Britannica, karya ini adalah “teks dasar pengantar filsafat untuk ribuan siswa universitas, khususnya dalam edisi paperback AS-nya.”

114 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Frederick (Freddie) Charles Copleston was raised an Anglican and educated at Marlborough College from 1920 to 1925. Shortly after his eighteenth birthday he converted to Catholicism, and his father subsequently almost disowned him. After the initial shock, however, his father saw fit to help Copleston through his education and he attended St. John’s in Oxford in 1925, only managing a disappointing third in classical moderations. He redeemed himself somewhat with a good second at Greats in 1929.

In 1930 Copleston became a Jesuit, and, after two years at the Jesuit novitiate in Roehampton, he moved to Heythrop. He was ordained a Jesuit priest at Heythrop College in 1937 and soon after went to Germany (1938) to complete his training. Fortunately he made it back to Britain before the outbreak of war in 1939. The war made it impossible for him to study for his doctorate, as once intended, at the Gregorian University in Rome, and instead Copleston was invited to return to Heythrop to teach the history of philosophy to the few remaining Jesuits there.

While in Heythrop Copleston had time and interest to begin the work he is most famous for, his "A History of Philosophy" - a textbook that originally set out to deliver a clear account of ancient, medieval and modern philosophy in three volumes, which was instead completed in nine volumes (1975). To this day Copleston’s history remains a monumental achievement and stays true to the authors it discusses, being very much a work in exposition.

Copleston adopted a number of honorary roles throughout the remainder of his career. He was appointed Visiting Professor at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, spending half of each year lecturing there from 1952 to 1968. He was made Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1970, given a personal professorship from his own university (Heythrop, now re-established in the University of London) in 1972 and made an Honorary Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, in 1975. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Santa Clara between 1974 and 1982, and he delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen between 1979 and 1981. His lectures were published under the title Religion and the One, and were largely a metaphysical tract attempting to express themes perennial in his thinking and more personal than in his history. Gerard J. Hughes notes Copleston as remarking "large doses of metaphysics like that certainly don’t boost one’s sales".

He received honorary doctorates from a number of institutions, notably, Santa Clara University, California, University of Uppsala and the University of St. Andrews (D.Litt) in later years. He was selected for membership in the Royal Institute of Philosophy and in the Aristotelian Society, and in 1993 he was made CBE.

Copleston’s personality saw him engage in the many responsibilities bestowed upon him with generous commitment and good humour.

Reviews

[melancholinary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The translation is so bad that it's difficult to understand what Copleston actually wants to discuss about Spinoza. For an introductory book on Spinoza's philosophy, it might not be too complex, but once again, the messy editorial department and the very robotic translation make the information in this book so hard to digest.

[Debbi Aditama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buku Filsafat Spinoza karya Frederick Copleston (terjemahan Basabasi) ini sebenarnya punya niat baik: ngenalin kita ke salah satu filsuf paling kontroversial dalam sejarah pemikiran Barat. Spinoza punya pemikiran dalam, radikal, dan relevan (soal Tuhan, rasio, emosi, sampai kebebasan manusia).

Honestly, versi buku ini berasa kayak masuk ke hutan belantara tanpa peta. Seriusan, terjemahannya kaku, ritmenya berat, dan alurnya terlalu akademik buat pembaca awam. Alih-alih ngajak mikir, buku ini mostly bikin capek duluan sebelum sempat mikir.

Masalah utamanya bukan di Spinoza-nya, tapi di cara Copleston (dan terjemahannya) menyajikan Spinoza. Terlalu banyak istilah teknis tanpa jembatan kontekstual yang ramah pembaca. Buat kamu yang baru mau kenalan dengan Spinoza, buku ini kurang welcoming, lebih cocok jadi bacaan pendamping setelah baca pengantar yang lebih cair.

Takeway personal:
Insight ada, tapi effort-nya terlalu mahal.