Chapter XXII: Spinoza (1623 - 1677)

Part I: The Young Heretic

• Expressed his loss of faither to some friends and was excommunicated.
• principled, kind, very social, practical but brave, studious, simple living, careful, patient

I saw that all the things I feared ... had nothing good or bad in them save in so far as the mind was affected by them

only the love towards a thing eternal and infinite feeds the mind with pleasure ... free from all pain

The greatest good is the knowledge of the union which the mind has with the whole of nature ... the more the mind understands the order of nature, the more easily it will be able to liberate itself from useless things

Part II: Theology and Politics

• Treatise on Theology and Politics promoted freedom of expression for public peace and piety
• divinity is in one's conduct, not in ritual or prophecies. This is the right focus for religious education
• reason is paramount, anything contrary to reason is absurd
• proper worship is the practice of justice and love towards others
• it is impossible to legislate true piety, which is a purely internal decision and connection
• public practice of religion should be subject to state control because the state must be the supreme power

Part III: The Philosopher

• Spinoza was a studious, practical, optimistic, self controlled, person always neat in appearance

Part IV: God

• Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata
• the purpose of philosophy is to prepare us to live well and conduct ourselves right
• proposed to explore nature and God with geometric reason and objectivity
• single reality percieved via the senses and experienced internally as thought
• God is essential reality which is nature in it's totality. Therefore, understanding of reality is the same as understanding God and thus sharing in the divine

Part V: Mind

• what is the nature and operation of the mind?
• the mind is the body, felt from within; it is one process
• ideas are expressed as action, so action is the expression of an idea and therefore will and intellect are deeply connected
• there is no free will
• individual is equal one's desires
• body is machine

Part VI: Man

• something like mind permeates all things, including a will to remain
• entities cna be ranked by capability to act effectively which puts human beings at the top
• virtue = effection action towards self preservation
• good = anything useful to the person
• pleasure = transition toward more perfect state, self advancement, power
• generosity = superabundance of confident strength
• pleasure is good insofar as it doesn't squander future pleasure
• understanding the source and meaning of an emotion put's it under one's control
• an emotion can become a passion when on is ignorant of it's source and meaning
• the passionate man is in fact the most passive to his emotions, swept up in turbulence

Part VII: Reason

an emotion can neither be hindered nor removed save by a contrary anda stronger emotion

• moderation is best done via love or fear
• conscience is learned
• virtue = strength, power and is therefore it's own end
• timeless truths / laws of nature, when understood are unity with God
• overcome uncontrolled emotion by understanding it's true source and nature
• power comes from knowledge; most useful form is knowledge of self –> power over oneself
• seeing oneself objectively is a gift
• hatred begets more hatred; love can overcome hatred
• contentment from understanding the inevitable flow of the world

Part VIII: The State

• exploration of society starts with human nature – the material of politics
• humans are innately social
• virtue = self preservation –> must be enlarged to include group preservation / power
• state extends freedom by providing safety –> the true end of the state is liberty

Part IX: The Chain of Influence

• Spinoza had some influence on French Enlightenment and German thought, and England in the 19th Century

That same species wrote the plays of Shakespeare, the music of Bach and Handel, the odes of Keats, The Republic of Plato, The Principia ofe Newton, and the Ethics of Spinoza; it build the Parthenon and painted the ceiling of teh Sistin Chapel; it concieved and cherished, even if it crucified, Christ. Man did all this; let him never despair

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