Baruch Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza is one of the 16 books that is part of the SSRC Philosophers Series called “Free Thinkers.” The series is an attempt to present the teachings of many of the great philosophers throughout history in a way that average readers without academic backgrounds can easily understand. The Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) created a geometrical proof of God’s infinity, substance, and necessity. Rather than divide God from man and further divide man into a physical body and a non-physical mind, as Descartes had done, Spinoza saw everything as part of a unity of existence and essence, which he called ‘God or Nature.’ He understood philosophy as a holistic theory of everything that simultaneously provides guidance for living a good life, characterized by clarity, freedom, and happiness, or what he called “blessedness.” The name Baruch in Hebrew translates to “blessed,” and he dedicated his life’s work to the study and practice of blessedness, even after being expelled from Hebrew community in Amsterdam. Spinoza’s greatest work was Ethics, which has been described as a perfect piece of writing. He wrote lucidly about God, mind, nature, and their self-evident interrelations. Ethics exhibits perfect literary unity; its form reflects the integration of God and the cosmos. Each of the five parts of this masterpiece follows the same logical order, and each proposition, axiom, and proof is precisely positioned within that order, moving a study of God, to the human mind, and finally to emotions and freedom from bondage to emotions.