La via alla felicità. L'«Etica» di Spinoza nella cultura del Seicento

Cambridge Introductions to Key Philosophical Texts

by Steven Nadler, Emilia Andri (Translator)

Baruch Spinoza è uno dei pensatori più radicali che la storia della filosofia abbia mai conosciuto. E l'Etica, pubblicata postuma nel 1677, lo stesso anno della sua morte, è il distillato di un lungo e meditato esercizio intellettuale iniziato fin dagli anni Cinquanta quando Spinoza, abbandonata l'attività commerciale ereditata dal padre, aveva deciso che il suo futuro sarebbe stato la ricerca filosofica, la conoscenza e la vera felicità.
Un capolavoro che ha pochi eguali e che, per ampiezza di temi e sistematicità espositiva, è paragonabile soltanto alla Repubblica di Platone.
In questa nitida e rigorosa analisi dell'Etica, Nadler ci spiega sia perché le idee di Spinoza abbiano suscitato tra i suoi contemporanei uno scalpore senza precedenti, sia perché emanino ancora oggi un fascino irresistibile e conservino tutta la loro importanza.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Steven Nadler is the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. His books include Rembrandt's Jews, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Spinoza: A Life, which won the Koret Jewish Book Award; and A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age (Princeton).

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethics is dense and I'm denser ---- but now I know Spinoza kicks ass!!!! Reads like a thriller!!!!!!

[Joost Van Dijke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik ben blij met de keuze om een introductie te lezen voor Spinoza Ethics.
In de toekomst ga ik het officiële boek lezen, maar voor nu heb ik genoeg stof om over na te denken en in te verdiepen. De manier van schrijven in dit boek maakt het een stuk toegankelijker, maar alsnog voelde sommige concepten heel complex gemaakt. Ik ben ik positief verrast door het boek en zou het zeker aanraden!

[Ramus1 m]

Good book

[Doron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is mostly clear, concise, and very informative. It explains Spinoza's 'Ethics' well, and makes a challenging topic simple and approachable. The author clearly cares about the reader, offering a fresh perspective.
However, the author’s effort to cover all aspects sometimes results in complex, Kantian-like sentences, which can occasionally make it harder to follow.

[Batumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensabile lettura per chi crede nel valore del pensiero spinoziano, che é parimenti profondo e complesso e richiede dunque buoni maestri che ci possano aiutare nella sua comprensione. Ma, come dice Spinoza stesso, "omnia praeclara tam difficilia quam rara sunt". Tutto ció che eccellente é tanto difficile quanto raro. Ci si prova...

[é · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very effective introduction, as advertised. Nadler does a good job of situating the text in the context of Early Modern thought and highlighting key arguments from the text. Nadler also goes over important interpretative debates from the modern day. A must-read for anyone seeking to gain a better appreciation of the primary text.

[Yilmaz Aksoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spinoza'nın bu eseri hakkında bugüne kadar okuduğum en anlaşılır kitap bu oldu. Diğer kısa açıklama kitaplarından daha uzun ama daha anlaşılır olabilmesi için buna "katlanmak" gerekiyor gibi.
Felsefeyle ilgilenenlere tavsiye ederim.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite helpful. Recommended for anyone trying to get a grip on the Ethics specifically and Spinoza in general.

[Yashwanth Betha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the book is titled "Ethics", 70% of the time is spent in discussing God (or Nature) and its attributes (Thought and Extension primarily). From this starting point, Spinoza derives his ethics and how one ought to live using logic. And because he uses logic, you cannot doubt the conclusions, assuming you accept the premises. But he doesn't justify the proposition that this kind of Nature (or God) exists in the first place, at least I'm not convinced. Since this Nature (or God) claim is unfalsifiable, science is not help here (just like most areas of philosophy).
Nevertheless, it was an interesting read and provided a brand new perspective on ethics.

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great companion reader, helped a lot on the most difficult parts of Part II. As much as "the order and connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things", the order and connection of Nadler's arguments is the same as that of Spinoza's. This is great because the incremental journey from metaphysics to epistemology to psychology to ethics is fundamental to the power and to the understanding of the work

[Nat Baldino · Rating 4 out of 5]

much more helpful than the "very short introduction" in terms of getting at the turning points of his views on modes

[Buciu Petre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and well written, considering the subject.

[Zelai Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best from Nadler I have encountered so far with both broadth and depth. Good intro for graduate students to know Spinoza quickly.

[Hermes Trismegisto]

Excelente introducción al pensamiento de Spinoza, compañero fundamental para no rendirse ante las difíciles proposiciones de la Ética.

[Onur · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a commentary book for dummies who struggle to brain over the propositions of ethics. He also mentions about letter traffic between him and other philosophers at that time.

[Kris Demey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only the parts about PI and II.

[A. B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly calming read! Some very interesting parallels to Nietzsche. Certainly spurred my interest to reading him directly.

[matthew mcdonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems to do a reasonable job of making Spinoza's Ethics more accessible.

After making my way through this, I think that I'll probably be able to get through the Ethics with a lot less effort and more result than on the first attempt.

Contains a mix of:
- simple explanatory stuff
- descriptions of disagreements academic readers have had about how various sections were intended to be understood.

The simple explanatory stuff is very useful. It explains the sense in which key words are to be understood, and walks you through the arguments a bit. (In the Ethics, Spinoza tends to give a list of *references* to premises, and a conclusion. The premises are typically defined several pages away, and it's difficult to put the whole argument together in your head as you read. You'd probably need to keep notes and refer to them as you read later sections to make sense of it on your own.)

I was less interested in the bits that explained ways in which different academics have understood different sections of the text differently.

If there was an annotated e-book version of the Ethics with hyperlinks to explanations of the way in which words were being used, and from the internal references to their definitions, that might be more useful than this book.

Update: it turns out that somebody *has* put together a hypertext version of the Ethics with links to definitions etc:
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel...

[Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I had hoped for. While I wouldn't go as far as to say, that I fully understood the ethics - and let's be honest here, who can - I definitely have a good understanding of the main ideas and arguments put forth and should be well prepared to read through the original without being confused on page 2.
Nadler perfectly managed to find a balance between quotes from the original text, other texts helping to understand the context as well as his own explanations and interpretations. Highly recommended.

[Tom Sulcer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I spent several years of my life, seriously trying to understand Spinoza. This book is one of several that attempts to explain Spinoza. I found the other ones to be better. While Nadler writes well, there are areas where I think he is slightly off in his understanding, but maybe that is it -- that nobody fully understands Spinoza, that there will always be disagreement about what was meant.

[Lukas op de Beke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterful and extremely accessible exposition of Spinoza's thought. When you finish a book, like I did here, with a feeling that you understood nearly everything that was written, you're either wrong and making a complete fool out of yourself, or you're right- which means the author has done an impeccable job.

[Markku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Spinoza's Ethics. Clear and helpful - a book I will certainly return to many times.

[Kubilay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good start for Spinoza's Ethics, yet definitely not enough. Ethics must be read with many other companions,but for a first timer, i can suggest this.

[Luke Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather good introductory text on Spinoza's Ethics drawing out some of the most contentious points and issues.

[Edward Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spinoza is a tough nut to crack, which is why those in academia usually aren't of much help. Nadler is. Be patient and you'll be rewarded with the light of knowing.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and helpful introduction to Spinoza’s masterpiece.