The Spinoza Problem

by Irvin D. Yalom

When Einstein spoke of God, he spoke of Spinoza’s God—a God entirely equivalent to nature, a God that includes all substance, and a God “that doesn’t play dice with the universe”—by which he means that everything that happens, without exception, follows the orderly laws of nature.

Spinoza turns and speaks gently, as a teacher to a young student, “Tell me, Jacob, do you believe that God is all powerful?” Jacob nods. “That God is perfect? Complete unto Himself.” Again Jacob agrees. “Then surely you would agree that, by definition, a perfect and complete being has no needs, no insufficiencies, no wants, no wishes. Is that not so?” Jacob thinks, hesitates, and then nods warily. Spinoza notes the beginnings of a smile on Franco’s lips. “Then,” Spinoza continues, “I submit that God has no wishes about how, or even if, we glorify Him. Allow me, then, Jacob, to love God in my own fashion.”

“You’re suggesting there is a place for fairness in nature’s grand scheme. In other words, the noble animal in its struggle for survival should not use camouflage or hunting stealth? Strange, I don’t remember anything in Darwin’s work about fairness.”

I, too, think forbidden thoughts.

My mind rarely dwells upon business, and I never write about it.”

“If not about business, young man, then what do you write?” “Simply what I see outside my shop window.”

It is the mind that determines what is fearful, worthless, desirable, or priceless, and therefore it is the mind, and only the mind, that must be altered.”

My absence serves the cause of peace—of that I have no doubt.

Nor do I

Do you want to hear what else he said?” “I think you want to tell me.”

“You say that because you don’t understand it. Does your wisdom surpass that of God? Don’t you know that there are reasons why we cannot know and we must trust our rabbis to interpret and clarify the scriptures?” “That conclusion is wonderfully convenient for the rabbis, Gabriel. Religious professionals throughout the ages have always sought to be the sole interpreters of mysteries. It serves them well.”

‘He who loves God rightly must not desire God to love him in return,’ with all the premises on which it rests and all the consequences which follow from it, filled my whole power of thought.’”

Goethe is saying that Spinoza taught him to free his mind from the influence of others. To find his own feelings and his own conclusions and then act upon them. In other words, let your love flow, and do not let it be influenced by the idea of the love you may get in return.

Some have represented the man as an atheist and considered him reprehensible, but then they also admitted he was a quiet, reflective man, a good citizen, a sympathetic person. So Spinoza’s critics seem to have forgotten the words of the Gospel, ‘By their fruits, you shall know them’;

In other words it is not what you believe or say you believe, it is how you live that matters.

After Mass, when we were children, Jacob, do you remember how you and I used to ridicule the Catholics? We ridiculed the outlandish costumes of the priests, the endless gory pictures of the crucifixion, the genuflecting to the bits of bones of the saints, the wafer and wine and eating the flesh and drinking the blood.” Franco’s voice rose. “Jewish or Catholic . . . there is no difference . . . It is madness. It is all madness.”

I am strong. I love life. I take care of him. I rescued him from the Inquisition. I am sustained by my faith and by the embrace of my fellow Jews. I am comforted by the knowledge that our people and our tradition continue. Compare the two of us with your precious reason, and tell me, wise man, what reason concludes.” False ideas offer false and fragile comfort, thought Bento. But he held his tongue.

Thinking, really thinking, was such hard work, like moving heavy trunks about in the attic. Instead, Alfred grew more adept at suppression. He diverted himself. He plunged into many activities. Most of all, he persuaded himself that the strength of convictions obviates the need for inquiry.

“I believe that the more we can know, the fewer will be the things known only to God. In other words, the greater our ignorance, the more we attribute to God.”

“And would Epicurus think that you’ve acted in a way conducive to the good life?” “I must agree that he would not. At the moment, however, I believed that I was acting wisely in refraining from other utterances.” “Such as?” “That God did not make us in His image—we made Him in our image. We imagine He is a being like us, hears our murmured prayers and cares about what we wish—” “Good Lord! If this is what you almost said, then I see your point. Let us say, then, you acted unwisely but not entirely foolishly. Edward is a devout Catholic. His uncle was a Catholic bishop. To expect him to lay down his beliefs on the basis of a few comments, even rational comments, is highly irrational and perhaps dangerous. Amsterdam has a reputation for being the most tolerant city in Europe at the moment. But remember the meaning of the word ‘tolerant’—it connotes that we all be tolerant of others’ beliefs, even though we deem them irrational.” “More and more,” said Bento, “I believe that if one lives among men with greatly different beliefs, then one cannot accommodate them without greatly changing oneself.”

“You will search the world over and not find a nonsuperstitious community. As long as there is ignorance, there will be adherence to superstition. Dispelling ignorance is the only solution.

There is no eternal blessedness in the world to come because there is no world to come. Our task, and I believe the Torah teaches us this, is to attain blessedness in this life now by living a life of love and of learning to know God. True piety consists in justice, charity, and love of one’s neighbor.”

“I have told you that Nature is eternal, infinite, and encompasses all substance.” “Yes?” Jacob’s face was furrowed and quizzical. “What question?” “And have I not told you that God is eternal, infinite, and encompasses all substance?” Jacob nodded, entirely bewildered. “You say you have been listening, you say you have heard enough, but yet you have not asked me the most fundamental question.” “What fundamental question?” “If God and Nature have the identical properties, then what is the difference between God and Nature?” “All right,” said Jacob. “I ask you: what is the difference between God and Nature?” “And I give you the answer you already know: there is no difference. God is Nature. Nature is God.”

“How did the Dutch greet us? Like no other people in the world. They were entirely tolerant about religion. No one inquired about religious beliefs.

“What do you say, Baruch? Now, when it is time for you to speak, you remain silent.” “More times than I can remember,” Baruch responded in a calm voice, “my father spoke of his friendship with you and his high regard for you. He also told me of your high opinion of my mind—‘limitless intelligence’ were the words he attributed to you. Were these indeed your words? Did he cite you correctly?” “Those were my words.” “I believe the world and everything in it operate according to natural law and that I can use my intelligence, provided I employ it in a rational mode, to discover the nature of God and reality and the path to a blessed life. I’ve said this to you before, have I not?” Rabbi Mortera placed his head in his hands and nodded. “And yet today you suggest that I spend my life confirming or negating my views by consulting rabbinical scholarship. That is not and will not be my way. Rabbinical authority is not based on purity of truth. It rests only on the expressed opinions of generations of superstitious scholars, scholars who believed the world was flat, circled by the sun, and that one man named Adam suddenly appeared and fathered the human race.” “You deny the divinity of Genesis?” “Do you deny the evidence showing that there were civilizations long predating the Israelites? In China? In Egypt?” “Such blasphemy. Do you not realize how you jeopardize your place in the world to come?” “There is no rational evidence for the existence of a world to come.”

“You shrug that off lightly. Do you have any idea of the stakes involved? If I had lost that debate, if it were decreed that all Jews have an equal status in the world to come and that virtue would be unrewarded and transgression would have no penalty, can you not foresee the repercussions upon the community? If they are insured a place in the world to come, then what is the incentive to convert back to Judaism? If there is no penalty for wrongdoing, can you imagine how the Dutch Calvinists would regard us? How long would our freedom last? Do you think I was playing a child’s game? Think of the implications.” “Yes, that great debate—your words have just demonstrated that it was not a debate about spiritual truth. No doubt that is why the Venetian rabbinate was confounded. Both of you argued for different versions of the afterlife for reasons that have nothing to do with the reality of the afterlife. You attempt to control the populace through the power of fear and hope—the traditional cudgels of religious leaders throughout history. You, the rabbinical authorities everywhere, claim to hold the keys to the afterlife, and you use those keys for political control. Rabbi Aboab, on the other hand, took his stand to minister to the anguish of his congregation who wanted to offer help for their converso families. This was not a spiritual disagreement. It was a political debate masquerading as a religious debate. Neither of you offered any proof for the existence of the world to c...

“Much of what religious leaders do has little to do with God,”

religious authorities of all hues seek to impede the development of our rational faculties.”

“The business of the political state? Have you not understood what happened in Spain and Portugal?” “That is precisely my point: they were religious states. Religion and statehood must be separated.

Taking blame is just a way of deceiving ourselves into thinking we are powerful enough to control Nature.

“Fear breeds superstition,” he read. And: “Weak and greedy people in adversity use prayers and womanish tears to implore help from God.”

True

“pomp and ceremony invested in religion clogs the mind of men with dogmatism, crowds out sound reason leaving not enough room for even a modicum of doubt.”

Spinoza’s powerful prose scattered that idea to the winds as he claimed that the Bible contains only spiritual truth—namely, the practice of justice and charity—not terrestrial truths. All those who find terrestrial laws and truths in the Bible are mistaken or self-interested, Spinoza insisted.

“I ask the multitude not to read my book,” and went on to explain that the “superstitious, unlearned populace, who hold that reason is nothing but a handmaid to theology, will gain nothing from this work. Indeed their faith may be disturbingly unsettled.”

“I understand your official party name is now the National Socialist German Workers party—the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei?” “Yes.” “Why such a lumpish and confusing name? ‘National’ implies ‘right,’ ‘socialist’ left, ‘German’ right, and ‘worker’ left! It’s impossible. How can your party be everything at once?” “That’s exactly what Hitler wants, to be everything to all people—except Jews and Bolshevists of course.

“Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism—what difference does it make? They are all part of the same religious swindle.”

ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL

How I love this noble man More than I can say with words. Still, I fear he remains alone With his shining halo.

Einstein on Spinoza

If I am among men who do not agree at all with my nature, I will hardly be able to accommodate myself to them without greatly changing myself A free man who lives among the ignorant strives as far as he can to avoid their favors A free man acts honestly, not deceptively Only free men are genuinely useful to one another and can form true friendships And it is absolutely permissible, by the highest right of Nature, for everyone to employ clear reason to determine how to live in a way that will allow him to flourish.

Spinoza introduced the modern era, that the enlightenment and the rise of natural science all began with him. Some consider Spinoza as the first Westerner to live openly without any religious affiliation.

The American Declaration of Independence was inspired by the British philosopher John Locke, who was in turn inspired by Spinoza.

Spinoza’s adherence to immanence. You know what I mean by this?” Alfred looked uncertain as he rotated his hands quizzically. “It contrasts with ‘transcendence.’ It refers to the idea that this worldly existence is all there is, that the laws of nature govern everything and that God is entirely equivalent to Nature. Spinoza’s denial of any future life was monumentally important for the philosophy that followed, for it meant that all ethics, all codes of life meaning and behavior must start with this world and this existence.”

The more Christian dogma and stories of miracles I was forced to learn, the more I realized how both the Christian and the Jewish faiths were based on childish, supernatural fantasies.

“Easy? It is not easy, but it is easier if one’s dear ones are dead. My permanent excommunication gives me the task now of refashioning my entire identity and learning to live without being Jewish or Christian, or any other religion. Perhaps I shall be the first man of such a sort.”

Not dissimilar to moving every year.

If you want to flourish, you must overcome your passions by anchoring your feelings to something unchangeable,

‘No dread dares to enter the heart that has purged itself of the fear of death.’

If I do not heed reason, I will remain a slave to passion.”

“So I ask again—why do you want to see him?” “I’m unsure. I agree that he is a dangerous man, a man who spreads hatred. Yet I still think of him as the little boy next door rather than a man who is evil. I consider him misguided, not demonic. He truly believes that racial nonsense, and his thoughts and actions follow in a perfectly consistent manner from Houston Stewart Chamberlain’s premises. I don’t believe he is a psychopath, a sadist, or a violent person. He’s rather timid in fact, almost cowardly and insecure. He relates poorly to others, and is entirely given over to the hope of love from his leader, Hitler. But still, he seems aware of his limitations

Spinoza says that reason is no match for passion and what we must do is to turn reason into a passion.”

“I understand. My task is to help him embrace another, quite opposite goal—to understand and diminish his desperate and irrational need for Hitler’s love.”

Simon de Vries

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