Brian Haslett

Add friend
Sign in to Goodreads to learn more about Brian.

https://listography.com/knotwurk
https://www.goodreads.com/mobbarley

The Courtier and ...
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (82%)
10 hours, 11 min ago

 
The Book of Lost ...
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (32%)
Feb 09, 2026 07:00PM

 
Loading...
“If things originate from God in the same way that properties originate from an essence, it follows that God no more wills the existence of particular things than a circle wills to be round; that all things have a necessary character; that the distinction between God and things is merely apparent or perspectival; and that God, in sum, is the sole substance or essence of the world.”
Matthew Stewart, Courtier and the Heretic

“Leibniz’s mathematical investigations initially centered on the summation of infinite series. The concern with indivisibility and the infinitely small was linked in his mind to some fundamental, metaphysical truths about the nature of substance, matter, and mind”
Matthew Stewart, Courtier and the Heretic

“the love of fate is not for the faint of heart. Human beings are weak not just with respect to outside forces, Spinoza cautions, but also with respect to the demons within. The passions are so strong that they can overrule the mind with ease and lead us “to follow the worse course even when we know the better.” The only way to overcome the emotions, he says, is with a higher kind of emotion: you have to fight fire with fire. Spinoza thus distinguishes himself from the Stoics, who argued that the only thing to do with the surly crowd of human emotions is to have them all shot, as it were.”
Matthew Stewart, Courtier and the Heretic

“The paradox with which modern interpreters must grapple, as it turns out, is the same one that would bedevil Leibniz. How can one who denies the very existence of the mind lead a life of the mind? Or, as the contemporary magazine reader might ask, can a materialist be spiritual?”
Matthew Stewart, Courtier and the Heretic

“Nevertheless, Spinoza acknowledges, seeking one’s best interest and getting it are two different things. He emphasizes that human beings are extremely weak in the face of the external forces arrayed against them, and that even the most reasonable men will find that the objects of hope and fear lie mostly outside their control.”
Matthew Stewart, Courtier and the Heretic

220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 320952 members — last activity 3 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
year in books
Jay Cha...
942 books | 55 friends





Polls voted on by Brian

Lists liked by Brian