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Brieven over het kwaad
Uit 'Brieven over het kwaad' blijkt dat Spinoza 350 jaar geleden al sterkere argumenten tegen het bestaan van een vrije wil had dan hedendaagse neurowetenschappers kunnen leveren. Dit maakt deze briefwisseling verrassend actueel.
Deze 'Brieven over het kwaad', oorspronkelijk geschreven in 17de-eeuws Nederlands, zijn zeer toegankelijk en geschikt voor een breed publiek. Miriam van Reijen heeft ze in hedendaags Nederlands hertaald, ingeleid en van aantekeningen voorzien.
In 1664-1665 schreven Benedictus de Spinoza en Willem van Blijenbergh elkaar acht brieven, die bekend zijn geworden als de 'Brieven over het kwaad'. Centraal in deze briefwisseling staat de vraag naar de verantwoordelijkheid voor het kwaad in de wereld: als god er verantwoordelijk voor is dat mensen een vrije wil hebben, is hij dan ook verantwoordelijk voor wat zij met deze vrije wil doen?
Als overtuigd christen ging Van Blijenbergh hierbij uit van een fundamenteel ander godsbeeld dan Spinoza. Dit bleek al snel het breekpunt tussen hen dat ook door een persoonlijke ontmoeting niet werd opgelost. Daarna beëindigde Spinoza de correspondentie in zijn vierde, korte brief.
Miriam van Reijen studeerde sociale filosofie en ethiek, en cultuur- en godsdienstsociologie. Zij doceerde wijsbegeerte aan diverse universiteiten en hogescholen. In 2010 promoveerde zij op Spinoza's filosofie van de affecten in relatie tot zijn politieke filosofie.
Deze 'Brieven over het kwaad', oorspronkelijk geschreven in 17de-eeuws Nederlands, zijn zeer toegankelijk en geschikt voor een breed publiek. Miriam van Reijen heeft ze in hedendaags Nederlands hertaald, ingeleid en van aantekeningen voorzien.
In 1664-1665 schreven Benedictus de Spinoza en Willem van Blijenbergh elkaar acht brieven, die bekend zijn geworden als de 'Brieven over het kwaad'. Centraal in deze briefwisseling staat de vraag naar de verantwoordelijkheid voor het kwaad in de wereld: als god er verantwoordelijk voor is dat mensen een vrije wil hebben, is hij dan ook verantwoordelijk voor wat zij met deze vrije wil doen?
Als overtuigd christen ging Van Blijenbergh hierbij uit van een fundamenteel ander godsbeeld dan Spinoza. Dit bleek al snel het breekpunt tussen hen dat ook door een persoonlijke ontmoeting niet werd opgelost. Daarna beëindigde Spinoza de correspondentie in zijn vierde, korte brief.
Miriam van Reijen studeerde sociale filosofie en ethiek, en cultuur- en godsdienstsociologie. Zij doceerde wijsbegeerte aan diverse universiteiten en hogescholen. In 2010 promoveerde zij op Spinoza's filosofie van de affecten in relatie tot zijn politieke filosofie.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
175 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
10 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Baruch Spinoza
794 books2,054 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 5, 2024
A FASCINATING COLLECTION OF LETTERS
Baruch Spinoza (later Benedict de Spinoza; 1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher. He was raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam, but was expelled from this community due to his ideas about the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of God. He lived a deliberately simple life, making a living as a lens grinder for eyeglasses, and turning down teaching positions that were offered to him. His major works are collected in A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise and On the Improvement of the Understanding / The Ethics / Correspondence (v. 2), and a useful edition of the Ethics is The Road to Inner Freedom: The Ethics.
The Preface to this collection states, "The letters that appear in this volume cover only the last two decades of Spinoza's life and represent a mere fraction of the immense correspondence he carried on during his lifetime... I felt it would be presumptuous on my part... to burden [the book] with annotations, explanations and interpretations concerning the recipients of the letters and their background."
He states, "That the definition above given of God is true appears from the fact, that by God we mean a Being supremely perfect and absolutely infinite. That such a Being exists may easily be proved from the definition." (Pg. 14) He suggests, "I will premise that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or deformed, ordered or confused." (Pg. 20)
He asserts, "I have taken miracles and ignorance as equivalent terms, because those, who endeavor to establish God's existence and the truth of religion by means of miracles, seek to prove the obscure by what is more obscure and completely unknown, thus introducing a new sort of argument, the reduction, not to the impossible... but to ignorance." (Pg. 26) He adds, "I therefore conclude, that the resurrection of Christ from the dead was in reality spiritual, and that to the faithful alone, according to their understanding, it was revealed that Christ was endowed with eternity, and had risen from the dead ... giving by his life and death a matchless example of holiness. Moreover, he to this extent raises his disciples from the dead, in so far as they follow the example of his own life and death. It would not be difficult to explain the whole Gospel doctrine on this hypothesis." (Pg. 27)
He explains, "I accept Christ's passion, death and burial literally, as you do, but his resurrection I understand allegorically. I admit, that it is related by the Evangelists in such detail, that we cannot deny that they themselves believed Christ's body to have risen from the dead and ascended to heaven... but in these matters they might, without injury to Gospel teaching, have been deceived... But Paul, to whom Christ afterward appeared, rejoices that he knew Christ not after the flesh, but after the spirit." (Pg. 29) He admits, "I confess plainly, and without circumlocution, that I do not understand the Scriptures, though I have spent some years upon them, and also as I feel that when I have obtained a firm proof, I cannot fall into a state of doubt concerning it." (Pg. 49) He notes, "I believe, though I do not ascribe to Scripture that sort of truth which you think you find in it, I nevertheless assign to it as great if not greater authority than you do. I am far more careful than others not to ascribe to Scripture any childish and absurd doctrines... Hence I pay very little attention to the glosses put upon Scripture by ordinary theologians, especially those of the kind who always interpret Scripture according to the literal and outward meaning." (Pg. 55)
He says, "I cannot admit that sin and evil have any positive existence, far less that anything can exist, or come to pass, contrary to the will of God. On the contrary, not only do I assert that sin has no positive existence, I also maintain that only in speaking improperly, or humanly, can we say that we sin against God, as in the expression that men offend God." (Pg. 44-45) He also reveals, "Nor do I deny that prayer is extremely useful to us. For my understanding is too small to determine all the means whereby God leads men to the love of himself, that is, to salvation... For my own part, I avoid or endeavor to avoid vice, because it is at direct variance with my proper nature and would lead me astray from the knowledge and love of God." (Pg. 54) He notes, "I have never learned or been able to learn any of God's eternal attributes from Holy Scripture." (Pg. 56)
In turning down the offer of a teaching position, he explains, "since it has never been my wish to teach in public, I have been unable to induce myself to accept this splendid opportunity, though I have long deliberated about it. I think... that I should abandon philosophical research if I consented to find time for teaching young students... in the second place... I do not know the limits, within which the freedom of my philosophical teaching would be confined, if I am to avoid all appearance of disturbing the publicly established religion... I am not holding back in the hope of getting something better, but through my love of quietness, which I think I can in some measure secure, if I keep away from lecturing in public." (Pg. 82-83)
For anyone wanting to know more about Spinoza and his beliefs, this little book is a true GEM---he addresses many matters here (e.g., religion) which are not addressed in this major works.
Baruch Spinoza (later Benedict de Spinoza; 1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher. He was raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam, but was expelled from this community due to his ideas about the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of God. He lived a deliberately simple life, making a living as a lens grinder for eyeglasses, and turning down teaching positions that were offered to him. His major works are collected in A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise and On the Improvement of the Understanding / The Ethics / Correspondence (v. 2), and a useful edition of the Ethics is The Road to Inner Freedom: The Ethics.
The Preface to this collection states, "The letters that appear in this volume cover only the last two decades of Spinoza's life and represent a mere fraction of the immense correspondence he carried on during his lifetime... I felt it would be presumptuous on my part... to burden [the book] with annotations, explanations and interpretations concerning the recipients of the letters and their background."
He states, "That the definition above given of God is true appears from the fact, that by God we mean a Being supremely perfect and absolutely infinite. That such a Being exists may easily be proved from the definition." (Pg. 14) He suggests, "I will premise that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or deformed, ordered or confused." (Pg. 20)
He asserts, "I have taken miracles and ignorance as equivalent terms, because those, who endeavor to establish God's existence and the truth of religion by means of miracles, seek to prove the obscure by what is more obscure and completely unknown, thus introducing a new sort of argument, the reduction, not to the impossible... but to ignorance." (Pg. 26) He adds, "I therefore conclude, that the resurrection of Christ from the dead was in reality spiritual, and that to the faithful alone, according to their understanding, it was revealed that Christ was endowed with eternity, and had risen from the dead ... giving by his life and death a matchless example of holiness. Moreover, he to this extent raises his disciples from the dead, in so far as they follow the example of his own life and death. It would not be difficult to explain the whole Gospel doctrine on this hypothesis." (Pg. 27)
He explains, "I accept Christ's passion, death and burial literally, as you do, but his resurrection I understand allegorically. I admit, that it is related by the Evangelists in such detail, that we cannot deny that they themselves believed Christ's body to have risen from the dead and ascended to heaven... but in these matters they might, without injury to Gospel teaching, have been deceived... But Paul, to whom Christ afterward appeared, rejoices that he knew Christ not after the flesh, but after the spirit." (Pg. 29) He admits, "I confess plainly, and without circumlocution, that I do not understand the Scriptures, though I have spent some years upon them, and also as I feel that when I have obtained a firm proof, I cannot fall into a state of doubt concerning it." (Pg. 49) He notes, "I believe, though I do not ascribe to Scripture that sort of truth which you think you find in it, I nevertheless assign to it as great if not greater authority than you do. I am far more careful than others not to ascribe to Scripture any childish and absurd doctrines... Hence I pay very little attention to the glosses put upon Scripture by ordinary theologians, especially those of the kind who always interpret Scripture according to the literal and outward meaning." (Pg. 55)
He says, "I cannot admit that sin and evil have any positive existence, far less that anything can exist, or come to pass, contrary to the will of God. On the contrary, not only do I assert that sin has no positive existence, I also maintain that only in speaking improperly, or humanly, can we say that we sin against God, as in the expression that men offend God." (Pg. 44-45) He also reveals, "Nor do I deny that prayer is extremely useful to us. For my understanding is too small to determine all the means whereby God leads men to the love of himself, that is, to salvation... For my own part, I avoid or endeavor to avoid vice, because it is at direct variance with my proper nature and would lead me astray from the knowledge and love of God." (Pg. 54) He notes, "I have never learned or been able to learn any of God's eternal attributes from Holy Scripture." (Pg. 56)
In turning down the offer of a teaching position, he explains, "since it has never been my wish to teach in public, I have been unable to induce myself to accept this splendid opportunity, though I have long deliberated about it. I think... that I should abandon philosophical research if I consented to find time for teaching young students... in the second place... I do not know the limits, within which the freedom of my philosophical teaching would be confined, if I am to avoid all appearance of disturbing the publicly established religion... I am not holding back in the hope of getting something better, but through my love of quietness, which I think I can in some measure secure, if I keep away from lecturing in public." (Pg. 82-83)
For anyone wanting to know more about Spinoza and his beliefs, this little book is a true GEM---he addresses many matters here (e.g., religion) which are not addressed in this major works.
November 24, 2025
Dieu est absolument et réellement la cause de toutes les choses qui ont une essence
Mais selon lui crime mal... N'expriment pas d'essence
Si quelqu'un s'aperçoit qu'il pourra vivre plus agréablement attaché à une croix cassis devant sa table. Celui-là sera le dernier des sots de ne pas se crucifier
Mais selon lui crime mal... N'expriment pas d'essence
Si quelqu'un s'aperçoit qu'il pourra vivre plus agréablement attaché à une croix cassis devant sa table. Celui-là sera le dernier des sots de ne pas se crucifier
March 10, 2024
Spinoza'nın yazdığı kitaplar ve onun üzerine yazılanları okuyarak kendimi Etika için hazırlıyorum.
February 24, 2025
Una maravilla filosóficamente, muy denso, pero que merece muchísimo la pena, ya lo decia hegel que para empezar a filosofar hay que primero ser spinozista
July 29, 2018
De briefwisseling van Spinoza met Van Blijenbergh over het kwaad en al dan niet vrije wil is wel interessant, maar de hardleersheid van Blijenbergh, zo vastgeroest als hij is in zijn christelijk geloof, zorgt voortdurend voor misverstanden, termen die voor beide correspondenten een verschillende inhoud hebben en ergernis bij Spinoza die zijn aanvankelijk bereidwillige hulp hoe langer hoe meer als zinloos beschouwt en de correspondentie uiteindelijk ook stopzet.
May 29, 2020
Clearly written.
But: only worth reading for those who give a sh!t about philosophical musings about theodicies and the questions about determinism and free will (not to be confused with fatalism).
But: only worth reading for those who give a sh!t about philosophical musings about theodicies and the questions about determinism and free will (not to be confused with fatalism).
August 19, 2017
Beautiful reissue!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews