Selections

by Baruch Spinoza, John Daniel Wild (Editor, Introduction)

Contents:
I. Introduction (Wild)
II. Early Writings
• On the Improvement of the Understanding
• Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being
III. Ethic
IV. The Letters of Certain Learned Men to Spinoza & His Replies

Genres: Philosophy

543 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Controversial 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."

Reviews

[Eric Herod]

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[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spinoza wrote in Dutch (he lived in Amsterdam) and had his writing translated to Latin, then later translated again into English for a wider reading audience. Because of this some of the English translations read very strangely in this book. The ideas are still there and fascinating, but reading the odd translations can be annoying and jarring at times. I am reading this in conjunction with 'Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die' (2020) by Steven Nadler, which is an excellent breakdown and interpretation of Spinoza's philosophies and works for our current times. When it comes to philosophy, I find that the ones I gravitate towards the most are Aristotle, Spinoza and Nietzsche.