Books by Benedictus de Spinoza

An anthology of the work of Baruch de Spinoza which presents the text of Spinoza's masterwork, the "Ethics". It also includes selections from other works by Spinoza, and an introduction that gives an overview of Spinoza's life and the main themes of his philosophy.

Ethics is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to apply the method of Euclid in philosophy. Spinoza puts forward a small number of definitions and axioms from which he attempts to derive hundreds of propositions and corollaries, such as "When the Mind imagines its own lack of power, it is saddened by it"; "A free man thinks of nothing less than of death"; and "The human Mind cannot be absolutely destroyed with the Body, but something of it remains which is eternal."

Preface gives a synopsis of Spinoza, his life, and where he was at during this time period. The book gives a huge depth into Cartesian Philosophy which is the philosophical doctrine of Rene Descartes. It also speaks of metaphysics in relation to Spinoza and Cartesian Philosophy. Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza''s work was not fully realized until years after his death. Today, he is considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism. By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes'' mindΓÇôbody dualism, Spinoza is considered to be one of Western philosophy''s most important philosophers. Philosopher and historian Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said of all modern philosophers, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all." All of Spinoza''s works were listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) by the Roman Catholic Church. Spinoza lived quietly as a lens grinder, turning down rewards and honors throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions, and gave his family inheritance to his sister. Spinoza''s moral character and philosophical accomplishments prompted 20th century philosopher Gilles Deleuze to name him "the ''prince'' of philosophers." Spinoza died at the age of 44 of a lung illness, perhaps tuberculosis or silicosis exacerbated by fine glass dust inhaled while tending to his trade. Spinoza is buried in the churchyard of the Nieuwe Kerk on Spui in The Hague.

How to Improve Your Mind is an engaging philosophical text by master Enlightenment thinker Baruch Spinoza. This edition includes exclusive commentary and biographical notes written by Philosophical LibraryΓÇÖs founding publisher, Dagobert D. Runes. Baruch Spinoza (1632ΓÇô1677) is heralded as one of the most influential and radical philosophers of the Enlightenment. An expert on the Talmud and Jewish scriptures, Spinoza is known for his moral philosophy and his views on theology and ethics. He devoted his life to the study of philosophy and Judaism and wrote several philosophical texts throughout his career, including his most extensive and famous tome, Ethics.

Dans ce livre, Spinoza adopte une méthode de démonstration déductive, calquée sur le mode de la démonstration mathématique, dans laquelle des propositions, démonstrations, scolies et lemmes succèdent aux définitions, axiomes et postulats. Si ce procédé d’exposition en fonction d’un « ordre géométrique » a pour but de conférer aux raisonnements développés dans l’ouvrage la plus grande rigueur possible. Le livre aborde successivement les thématiques de Dieu, de l’âme, des passions (ou affects), du conatus, de la servitude de l’homme, et enfin de la possibilité et des moyens pour l’homme d’accéder à la liberté et la béatitude. 

Born in Amsterdam in 1634, Benedict Spinoza continues to be one of the most admired thinkers. His work, including the Ethics, the Tractatus Theologico Politicus and the Political Treatise that we present in this volume are widely read and the subject of philosophical, political, religious and psychological studies, not only by fellow philosophers but also by writers and poets.Famous writers and poets became admirers and followers of Spinoza, particularly Lessing, Heine, Auerbach, Coleridge, Shelley, George Eliot and many more. Robert Harvey Monro Elwes a renowned XIX century English scholar and the English translator of Spinoza's works, in his Introduction to the Tractatus Theologico Politicus (included in this book) wrote that these poets and intellectuals "not only admired him but studied him deeply. Shelley not only contemplated but began a translation of the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, to be published with a preface by Lord Byron, but the project was cut short by his death.""to be a philosopher one must first be a Spinozist.".G. W. F. Hegel"I, at last, chanced upon the Ethica of this man. To say exactly how much I gained from that work was due to Spinoza or to my reading of him would be impossible; enough that I found in him a sedative for my passions and that he appeared to me to open up a large and free outlook on the material and moral world."Johann Wolfgang von Goethe"Spinoza, like Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, on whose lives and philosophy I have based two earlier novels, wrote much that is highly relevant to my field of psychiatry and psychotherapy-for example, that ideas, thoughts, and feelings are caused by previous experiences, that passions may be studied dispassionately, that understanding leads to transcendence-and I wished to celebrate his contributions through a novel of ideas."Irvin D. Yalom, from his novel The Spinoza Problem