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Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker
A brilliant schoolboy in seventeenth-century Amsterdam quickly learns to keep his ideas to himself. When he is twenty-three, those ideas prove so scandalous to his religious community that he is cast out, cursed, and effectively erased from their communal life. The scandal shows no sign of waning as his ideas spread throughout Europe, where he is almost universally reviled as an instrument of the devil. At the center of the storm, he lives the simplest of lives, quietly devoted to his work as a lens grinder and to his steadfast search for truth-an endeavor that paves the way to all that is best in modern democracies. He does not live to see the results of his efforts, but his ideas change the world.
292 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2014
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 29, 2014
More a book for motivated adult-level readers than younger ones, but a lucid and readable account of the life and thought of a philosopher who, as the author establishes, occupies a place close to the center of modern philosophical, religious, political and social thought. Unfortunately, the book's design gives it the look of a dry and dusty tome, and that will likely keep it from getting the readership it deserves.
Notable quotes:
(Spinoza paid his bills by grinding lenses, and developed respiratory ills.) "It seemed that there was a personal price to pay for enabling others to see the world more clearly. As Spinoza soon discovered, this would be just as true of his philosophizing as of his lens grinding." 126
"'When one...compares one's own small talents with those of a Leibnitz,' Diderot wrote, 'one is tempted to throw away one's books and go die peacefully in the depths of some dark space.'" 206
"There are the Spinozas among us who have simply walked away from the old neighborhood and never looked back. They have left behind the old traditions like so much rubble, and they have set out to build everything afresh, unflinchingly, on a new foundation of pure reason. And there are the Leibnizes who find that the pristine structure of reason is a very cold place to live. They long for something transcendent, for the comfort that everything matters and makes sense, for the feeling that we are nurtured and loved by something greater than we are ourselves. Even in the new world that we are constructing afresh, the Leibnizes insist on the value of the trusty old building blocks." 210-211
Notable quotes:
(Spinoza paid his bills by grinding lenses, and developed respiratory ills.) "It seemed that there was a personal price to pay for enabling others to see the world more clearly. As Spinoza soon discovered, this would be just as true of his philosophizing as of his lens grinding." 126
"'When one...compares one's own small talents with those of a Leibnitz,' Diderot wrote, 'one is tempted to throw away one's books and go die peacefully in the depths of some dark space.'" 206
"There are the Spinozas among us who have simply walked away from the old neighborhood and never looked back. They have left behind the old traditions like so much rubble, and they have set out to build everything afresh, unflinchingly, on a new foundation of pure reason. And there are the Leibnizes who find that the pristine structure of reason is a very cold place to live. They long for something transcendent, for the comfort that everything matters and makes sense, for the feeling that we are nurtured and loved by something greater than we are ourselves. Even in the new world that we are constructing afresh, the Leibnizes insist on the value of the trusty old building blocks." 210-211
January 6, 2017
This was a book without a really clear audience. It's a YA biography about a 17th century philosopher (already an interesting choice), but it felt a little too all over the place without fully coming together. The intended age range of the audience bounced around between middle grade to adult- at times it felt too simplistic, and then it would suddenly go deep. Similarly, I felt like it didn't give me enough exploration of Spinoza's thinking to be a book about philosophy, but it also didn't give me the more in-depth exploration of a subject's life that I like to see in a biography.
I think the book could have benefitted from a more clear idea of audience and purpose, but it was certainly an interesting concept, and it succeeded in making me more interested in Spinoza.
I think the book could have benefitted from a more clear idea of audience and purpose, but it was certainly an interesting concept, and it succeeded in making me more interested in Spinoza.
June 2, 2025
I've been meaning to get into Spinoza for a while. Though this book doesn't really get into the confusing and complicated details Spinoza's philosophy is known for, it very much allows young readers to get a peer into what his life was like and how his ideas formed. This book is written memorably and concisely. If anything of Spinoza's work is far too daunting to begin reading (a very natural response), Lehmann's book is a very nice way to start. It's a quick and easy read perfect for an afternoon and so succinctly puts the events of Spinoza's life from beginning to end in a narrative that is not only simple but quite addicting to follow. I'm not sure if jumping into his Ethics would be my next best step, but Lehmann has got me quite eager to do so.
August 26, 2018
Best Spinoza Ever
Devra Lehmann’s books is simply the best I ever read about Spinoza’s life (and I have read a bunch of them). For me the most important philosopher in the modern world. Introduced thoughts about how we are bound to G-d. Unfortunately the jewish community (or call it, the Rabbinate), never took actions to terminate his excomungation which is a loss for our community per se. I would love to meet Devra personally just to thank her infinitely for the reading she has provided. In my opinion, the best read so far for 2018.
Devra Lehmann’s books is simply the best I ever read about Spinoza’s life (and I have read a bunch of them). For me the most important philosopher in the modern world. Introduced thoughts about how we are bound to G-d. Unfortunately the jewish community (or call it, the Rabbinate), never took actions to terminate his excomungation which is a loss for our community per se. I would love to meet Devra personally just to thank her infinitely for the reading she has provided. In my opinion, the best read so far for 2018.
December 1, 2025
I spent time in Madrid, Spain for a study abroad semester decades ago and learned all about the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews by the Catholic Kings, and the Moorish state of Muslims in southern Spain that lasted over 700 hundred years until 1492.
Baruch Spinoza was the child of Portuguese Jews. His parents escaped the Catholic Church’s Portuguese Inquisition and settled in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, at that time known to be a tolerant and vibrant community of Jews and Christians coexisting. The Dutch Calvinist Protestants were in charge in the Netherlands, not the Catholic Church, which allowed Spinoza to avoid reprisal for a time.
Spinoza was an apt student with plans to become a rabbi. However, some of his theological questions could not be answered by the religious scholars in his faith community. Both Jewish and Christian faith hinge on the premise that there is a soul in the afterlife - that good people are rewarded and bad people are punished.
Spinoza rejected this idea and believed that salvation was NOT a reward you get after you die. Spinoza believed in the orderliness found in nature and that salvation was a state of mind that could be achieved right now while one was alive. This was a heretical and inflammatory viewpoint to hold in the 1650s. This was after the Protestant Reformation in 1517 in which the Catholic Church lost significant ground to Protestants across Europe.
At the age of 23 he was excommunicated for holding these beliefs and was cursed by Jewish elders of his community. He was ostracized, cast out of his family business, and shunned into exile as an insolent pariah. He changed his first name from Baruch to Benedictus and chose to use this exile as an opportunity to explore his beliefs further in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He also learned Latin, the language of academic scholars to further his education.
He spent the rest of his life tinkering with many concepts, namely his lack of belief in the immortality of the soul during a time in which it was very dangerous to do so. In the scientific community around the same time in Italy, Galileo faced condemnation and was placed under house arrest by the Catholic Church in 1633 for declaring his views on the sun as the center of the universe.
Spinoza published a few radical treatises while he was alive, which contributed to his ongoing seclusion. His magnum opus, Ethics, was secretly published by his friends immediately after his death. His considerable contributions to academic freedom, secularism, and the separation of church and state are substantial. Spinoza continues to intrigue as a historical figure and outcast thinker of his time.
I loved this biography - I made so many connections to other background knowledge and content that I now have a ready made reading list of other topics to pursue - the best kind of reading and learning for the sake of curiosity! I even spent time reading all the footnotes in the back and learned that italic font was created by Aldus Manutius - who pioneered the use of this smaller font that allowed books to smaller, more portable, and printed in paperback!
Baruch Spinoza was the child of Portuguese Jews. His parents escaped the Catholic Church’s Portuguese Inquisition and settled in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, at that time known to be a tolerant and vibrant community of Jews and Christians coexisting. The Dutch Calvinist Protestants were in charge in the Netherlands, not the Catholic Church, which allowed Spinoza to avoid reprisal for a time.
Spinoza was an apt student with plans to become a rabbi. However, some of his theological questions could not be answered by the religious scholars in his faith community. Both Jewish and Christian faith hinge on the premise that there is a soul in the afterlife - that good people are rewarded and bad people are punished.
Spinoza rejected this idea and believed that salvation was NOT a reward you get after you die. Spinoza believed in the orderliness found in nature and that salvation was a state of mind that could be achieved right now while one was alive. This was a heretical and inflammatory viewpoint to hold in the 1650s. This was after the Protestant Reformation in 1517 in which the Catholic Church lost significant ground to Protestants across Europe.
At the age of 23 he was excommunicated for holding these beliefs and was cursed by Jewish elders of his community. He was ostracized, cast out of his family business, and shunned into exile as an insolent pariah. He changed his first name from Baruch to Benedictus and chose to use this exile as an opportunity to explore his beliefs further in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He also learned Latin, the language of academic scholars to further his education.
He spent the rest of his life tinkering with many concepts, namely his lack of belief in the immortality of the soul during a time in which it was very dangerous to do so. In the scientific community around the same time in Italy, Galileo faced condemnation and was placed under house arrest by the Catholic Church in 1633 for declaring his views on the sun as the center of the universe.
Spinoza published a few radical treatises while he was alive, which contributed to his ongoing seclusion. His magnum opus, Ethics, was secretly published by his friends immediately after his death. His considerable contributions to academic freedom, secularism, and the separation of church and state are substantial. Spinoza continues to intrigue as a historical figure and outcast thinker of his time.
I loved this biography - I made so many connections to other background knowledge and content that I now have a ready made reading list of other topics to pursue - the best kind of reading and learning for the sake of curiosity! I even spent time reading all the footnotes in the back and learned that italic font was created by Aldus Manutius - who pioneered the use of this smaller font that allowed books to smaller, more portable, and printed in paperback!
December 25, 2025
This short, YA-targeted book was great for an adult like me who gets somewhat bored with philosophic ideas and theories, yet still wants to know what all the fuss is about. Mainly a biography of Spinoza, but it does cover his philosophical work and books. I am much more knowledgeable than I was 300 pages ago. I would love to read more books like this about other great philosophers.
September 17, 2025
Too much circumcision and not enough Spinoza. No clear direction and I found myself slogging through it. I might have had a better time learning Latin and reading Spinoza’s original Ethics
May 12, 2015
As someone who struggles to deal with philosophy, and who wanted at least a limited understanding of a key thinker and forerunner to the modern world--i.e. Spinoza--this is the perfect book. It is this year's winner of a National Jewish Book Award in the category of young adult literature, and that's how it came to my attention. For me, a kind of "Spinoza for Dummies," written in a conversational style, illuminating his "heretical" ideas as well as ordeals of his life. Spinoza was a precursor of the modern world in so many ways: he denied the existence of soul that survives death, of a God who hears prayers, reveals Scripture, and or sets rules of morality; these ideas made him dangerous to his co-religionists because their tolerance of said ideas risked their losing the hospitality of their Calvinist hosts in Holland (the one European country that welcomed Jews expelled from Spain by the Inquisition). His belief that freedom of thought and expression are universal human rights and his exaltation of reason, make him an ancestor of the Enlightenment and Western civilization today. There are still plenty of his ideas that I cannot grasp, but this book is an excellent entry for the beginning student into Spinoza's mind. Also, it has the most readable and interesting footnotes I've ever encountered.
September 29, 2014
This is an outstanding introduction to the 17th century philosopher, his times, and his ideas. Lehmann does a superb job lucidly and concisely explaining Spinoza's ideas and why they were so influential, as well as the ideas of contemporary philosophers like Descartes and Leibniz. It's difficult to imagine many young adult readers finding a biography of a seventeenth century Dutch-Jewish philosopher appealing but Lehmann's fascinating portrait of Spinoza as a radical thinking visionary outsider, courageously devoted to breaking down long-held preconceptions and conventions may find an audience.
July 25, 2016
Terrific biographical history providing generous and carefully sourced anecdotal background of this fascinating thinker.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews