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This is the second of five powerpoint presentations going proposition by proposition through Spinoza's Ethics. All propositions, definitions etc. are taken from Edwin Curley's translation of the ethics. The commentary (except quotations and passages adapted from Deleuze) is my own.
The new translation has been commissioned by Cambridge and is based on the new critical edition forthcoming from PUF. Translators are Michael Silverthorne and myself. The paper is an introduction to the text intended to be accessible to new readers.
An accessible short introduction to Spinoza's Ethics
A translation of the Latin of Book 1 of Spinoza's Ethics. The few comments aim to offer an interpretation of some key ideas and terms.
1991 •
There are very few studies devoted specifically to the ethical teaching of Spinoza's Ethics. Instead, commentaters have focussed their attention mainly on the metaphysical and epistemological doctrines found chiefly in Parts I and II. Nevertheless, ethics was Spinoza's primary concern and the metaphysical and epistemological doctrines were intended by him to support and culminate in a practical doctrine of the best way of life. Despite its title, however, the Ethics is silent about what Spinoza means by ethics; indeed, nowhere in this work does he define or explain what ethics is. With this in mind, my chief objective will be to determine what Spinoza himself means by ethics and the significance of this for an understanding of both his ethics and his philosophy as a whole.
In the final lecture on Spinoza's Ethics, we will make a brief overview of Part V of Spinoza's Ethics, which is titled, 'Of the Power of the Intellect, or of Human Freedom'. In Part V, Spinoza ties up all of the threads from the previous four parts in order to create an account of freedom in terms of his second and third kinds of knowledge. As we have seen in Spinoza's account of the emotions, there are emotions which are based on adequate ideas and others which are based on inadequate ideas. Of the latter, they may be said to be the experience of our determination by external and not internal causes. According to Spinoza, a transcendent understanding of the world provides one with deep and sublime emotions capable of overcoming these externally conditioned affections, and it is by this understanding that we find our freedom. Thus, we will survey Spinoza's accounts of emotions, concepts , knowledge, and the power of knowledge over the emotions as it is presented in Part V, with specific attention to propositions 4, 6, 10, 25, and 39.
Spinoza -- Ethics on Substance
Essays on Spinoza's Ethical Theory
"Introduction," in "Essays on Spinoza's Ethical Theory," Oxford University Press, 2014.2014 •
"Essays on Spinoza's Ethical Theory" is a collection of original essays by leading scholars in the field today. These essays address a wide range of issues concerning Spinoza's ethical theory and, in doing so, deepen our understanding of this relatively neglected but richly rewarding facet of his system. Given its importance to his philosophical ambitions, it is surprising that his ethics has, until recently, received relatively little scholarly attention. Anglophone philosophy has tended to focus on Spinoza’s contribution to metaphysics and epistemology, while philosophy on the continent has tended to show greater interest in his political philosophy. This tendency is problematic not only because it overlooks a central part of Spinoza’s project, but also because it threatens to present a distorted picture of his philosophy. Moreover, Spinoza’s ethics, like other branches of his philosophy, is complex, difficult, and, at times, paradoxical. The essays in this volume advance our understanding of his ethics and also help us to appreciate his ethics as the centerpiece of his system. In addition to resolving interpretive difficulties and longstanding debates, these essays point the direction for future research. Spinoza’s enduring contribution to the development of ethical theory and to early modern philosophy—and to early modern history generally—provide us with good reason to follow the lead of these essays.
In this first of seven lectures on Spinoza, we will briefly cover his life and thought, the aim of the Ethics and its geometric approach, and we will briefly survey the main themes of Part I of the Ethics, which is on God, Substance, Freedom, and Necessity. Much of this survey will borrow from the late Timothy Sprigge's work The God of Metaphysics. Sprigge, an idealist and contemporary thinker, had a closer affinity to Spinoza's thought than many Spinoza scholars, and it is my opinion that in terms of scholarship, an affinity of thought lends to stronger understanding than a difference of thought, for there are nuances an outsider won't see that an insider will know all too well. The ultimate insider for idealists is Sprigge, and The God of Metaphysics provides a wonderful introduction to Spinoza's monism and pantheism.
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