Commentary
[in chronological order]
Spinoza’s Metaphysics by Itzhak Melamed
- Melamed, Yitzhak Y. Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.From the publisher: “Yitzhak Melamed here offers a new and systematic interpretation of the core of Spinoza’s metaphysics. In the first part of the book, he proposes a new reading of the metaphysics of substance in Spinoza: he argues that for… More
“Spinoza on the Ethics of Courage and the Jewish Tradition” by Alexander Green
- Green, Alexander. “Spinoza on the Ethics of Courage and the Jewish Tradition.” Modern Judaism 33, no. 2 (May 1, 2013): 199–225.Alexander Green’s article “Spinoza on the Ethics of Courage and the Jewish Tradition” explores Spinoza’s remark in the Theological-Political Treatise about Jewish “effeminate spirits” potentially hindering the restoration of Jewish… More
Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn by Martin Yaffe
- Strauss, Leo. Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn. Edited by Martin D. Yaffe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012.From the Publisher: “Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn is a superbly annotated translation of ten introductions written by Strauss to a multi-volume critical edition of Mendelssohn’s work. Commissioned in Weimar Germany in the 1920s, the project was… More
“Why Spinoza Is Intolerant of Atheists” by Michael Rosenthal
- Rosenthal, Michael A. “Why Spinoza Is Intolerant of Atheists: God and the Limits of Early Modern Liberalism.” The Review of Metaphysics 65, no. 4 (June 2012): 813–834.Michael A. Rosenthal’s article, “Why Spinoza Is Intolerant of Atheists: God and the Limits of Early Modern Liberalism,” explores Spinoza’s complex stance on toleration, particularly his view of atheism. While Spinoza is often regarded as a central… More
Maimonides and Spinoza by Joshua Parens
- Parens, Joshua. Maimonides and Spinoza: Their Conflicting Views of Human Nature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012.From the publisher: “Until the last century, it was generally agreed that Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism, and Spinoza—as an Enlightenment advocate for secularization—among its key opponents. However, a new scholarly consensus has… More
Spinoza on Philosophy, Religion, and Politics: The Theologico-Political Treatise
- James, Susan. Spinoza on Philosophy, Religion, and Politics: The Theologico-Political Treatise. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.From the Publisher: “Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise is simultaneously a work of philosophy and a piece of practical politics. It defends religious pluralism, a republican form of political organisation, and the freedom to philosophise,… More
Spinoza’s Revolutions in Natural Law
- Campos, Andre Santos. Spinoza’s Revolutions in Natural Law. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.From the Publisher: “This very first analysis of Spinoza’s philosophy of law from the viewpoint of his deterministic ontology shows that he revolutionized modern philosophy from within by developing an entirely new natural law theory connecting… More
“Benedict Spinoza on the Naturalness of Democracy”
- Ward, Lee. “Benedict Spinoza on the Naturalness of Democracy.” Canadian Political Science Review 5, no. 1 (April 6, 2011): 55–73.Abstract: “Benedict Spinoza is arguably the first important political philosopher to endorse democracy as the best government. He does so primarily on the basis of the claim that it is the most natural regime. However, there are features of Spinoza’s… More
Conflict, Power, and Multitude in Machiavelli and Spinoza: Tumult and Indignation
- Lucchese, Filippo Del. Conflict, Power, and Multitude in Machiavelli and Spinoza: Tumult and Indignation. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2011.From the Publisher: “Conflict, Power and Multitude in Machiavelli and Spinoza explores Spinoza’s political philosophy by confronting it with that of Niccolò Machiavelli. Filippo Del Lucchese conducts a study of the relationship between… More
The Trials of Spinoza
- Ali, Tariq. The Trials of Spinoza. Har/DVD. Seagull Books, 2011.From the Publisher: Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) is considered one of the great rationalist thinkers of the seventeenth century. His magnum opus, Ethics, in which he criticized the dualism of Descartes, solidified his reputation and greatly influenced the… More
Major Works
Political Treatise [1676]
- Spinoza, Baruch. Political Treatise. Edited by Jonathan Israel. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000.Written near the end of his life, Spinoza’s Political Treatise diverges from the speculative metaphysics of his Ethics and focuses on the practical realities of political governance. While Spinoza champions democracy as the most natural and stable form… More
Ethics [1677]
- Spinoza, Benedictus de. A Spinoza Reader: The Ethics and Other Works. Translated by Edwin M. Curley. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994Spinoza redefines traditional concepts of God and human freedom, merging metaphysics, psychology, and ethics into a single, unified system. Spinoza’s most famous proposition, “Deus sive Natura” (“God or Nature”), radically reframes… More
Theologico-Political Treatise [1670]
- Spinoza, Baruch. Theologico-Political Treatise. Edited by Martin Yaffe. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co., 2004.In his Theologic-Political Treatise, Spinoza links human psychology to the rise and persistence of superstition, offering a critique of both religion and political manipulation. In this excerpt from the preface, Spinoza brilliantly observes how uncertainty,… More
Multimedia
BBC “In Our Time”: Benedict Spinoza
- Audio. Melvyn Bragg with guests Jonathan Rée, Sarah Hutton, and John Cottingham. BBC Radio 4, In Our Time, 23 Dec 2011.Melvyn Bragg discusses the Dutch Jewish Philosopher Spinoza. For the radical thinkers of the Enlightenment, he was the first man to have lived and died as a true atheist. For others, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he provides perhaps the most profound… More
Roundtable on Spinoza’s Philosophy
- Roundtable on Spinoza's Philosophy hosted by the Philoctetes Center, February, 2009. Speakers were Akeel Bilgrami, Jonathan Israel, Steven Nadler, Joel Whitebook, and Catherine Wilson.Steven Nadler on Spinoza
- Video. Steven Nadler. At Beyond Belief, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2006.Steven Nadler, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, gives a talk on Baruch Spinoza at Beyond Belief 2006, touching on Spinoza’s conception of God and morality.
Other Works
Complete Works
-Spinoza, Baruch. Spinoza: Complete Works. Edited by Michael L. Morgan. Translated by Samuel Shirley. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub Co Inc, 2002.
Other works of note: On the Improvement of the Understanding (1662) The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy (1663)
Correspondence
-Spinoza, Baruch. The Letters, ed. Shirley, et. al. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1995.