Commentary

• “How to Study Spinoza’s ‘Theologico-Political Treatise’”

  - Strauss, Leo. “How to Study Spinoza’s ‘Theologico-Political Treatise’.” Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 17 (January 1, 1947): 69–131. doi:10.2307/3622164.
  A pathbreaking study of the question of how to read Spinoza’s masterwork, the Theologico-Political Treatise.

• “Spinoza and the Political Problem”

  - Gildin, Hilail. "Spinoza and the Political Problem" in Spinoza. A collection of critical Essays, edited by Marjorie Grene, University of Notre Dame Press (Ind.), 2nd ed., 1979 (1st ed. : Anchor Books, New York, 1973), p. 377-387.

• “The ‘Separation’ of Religion and Politics: The Paradoxes of Spinoza”

  - Fradkin, Hillel G. “The ‘Separation’ of Religion and Politics: The Paradoxes of Spinoza.” The Review of Politics 50, no. 4 (October 1, 1988): 603–627. doi:10.2307/1407356.
  Abstract: “Benedict Spinoza is the first philosophical proponent of liberal democracy. In his Theologico-Political Tractate he calls for the liberation of philosophy from theology and for the subordination of religion to politics. Though Spinoza may… More

• Persecution and the Art of Writing

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  Strauss, Leo. Persecution and the Art of Writing. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1988.
  From the Publisher: “The essays collected in Persecution and the Art of Writing all deal with one problem—the relation between philosophy and politics. Here, Strauss sets forth the thesis that many philosophers, especially political philosophers,… More

• Spinoza and Other Heretics: The Adventures of Immanence

  - Yovel, Yirmiahu. Spinoza and Other Heretics: The Adventures of Immanence. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
  From the Publisher: “This ambitious study presents Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) as the most outstanding and influential thinker of modernity–and examines the question of whether he was the “first secular Jew.” A number-one bestseller in… More

• “Anthropomorphism and Spinoza’s Innovations”

  - Preus, Samuel J. “Anthropomorphism and Spinoza’s Innovations.” Religion 25, no. 1 (January 1995): 1–8. doi:10.1006/reli.1995.0001.
  Abstract: “The first and most rigorous early modern discussion of anthropomorphism in religion was produced by Benedict Spinoza. The intellectual context for his consideration was the problem posed by biblical anthropomorphism for the philosophical… More

• Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

  - Strauss, Leo. Spinoza’s Critique of Religion. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1997.
  From the Publisher: “Leo Strauss articulates the conflict between reason and revelation as he explores Spinoza’s scientific, comparative, and textual treatment of the Bible. Strauss compares Spinoza’sTheologico-political Treatise and the… More

• Piety, Peace and the Freedom to Philosophize

  - Bagley, P. J. Piety, Peace and the Freedom to Philosophize. New York: Springer, 1999.
  From the Publisher: “The 11 essays collected here have been composed by members of the North American Spinoza Society. They exhibit the fruits of the research, investigation and erudition of an array of established scholars and newer students whose… More

• The God of Spinoza: A Philosophical Study

  - Mason, Richard. The God of Spinoza: A Philosophical Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
  From the publisher: “This book brings together Spinoza’s fundamental philosophical thinking with his conclusions about God and religion. Spinoza was born a Jew but chose to live outside any religious community. He was deeply engaged both in… More

• “The Invention of Liberal Theology: Spinoza’s Theological-Political Analysis of Moses and Jesus”

  - Frankel, Steven. “The Invention of Liberal Theology: Spinoza’s Theological-Political Analysis of Moses and Jesus.” The Review of Politics 63, no. 2 (April 1, 2001): 287–315. doi:10.2307/1408669.
  Abtract: “In his “Tractatus Theologico-Politicus”, Spinoza attempts to establish a Scriptural basis for liberal democracy by showing that the Gospels, when understood correctly, assert the need for freedom, toleration, and equality. He does… More

• The Spinoza Conversations Between Lessing and Jacobi

  - Vallee, Gerard. The Spinoza Conversations Between Lessing and Jacobi. Lanham: University Press Of America, 2002.
  From the Publisher: “Lessing’s Spinozism looms up out of the numerous intellectual riddles of the past. Almost everything has been tried in an effort to sound and weigh the exact amount of Spinozism Lessing betrayed in his conversations with… More

• “Spinoza’s Critique of Miracles”

  - Batnitzky, Leora. “Spinoza’s Critique of Miracles.” Cardozo Law Review 25 (2004 2003): 507.
  Excerpt: “It is well known that central to Spinoza’s critique of religious authority is his critique of prophecy. Spinoza’s understanding of prophecy builds on and criticizes Maimonides’ defense of prophecy in his Guide of the… More

• “On Leo Strauss’s Critique of Spinoza”

  - Smith, Steven B. “On Leo Strauss’s Critique of Spinoza.” Cardozo Law Review 25 (2003-2004): 741.
  Excerpt: ” In an essay from 1932 entitled Das Testament Spinozas, Leo Strauss observed that the reception of Spinoza has undergone various stages from condemnation as a soulless atheist and materialist, to canonization by the German romantics who saw… More

• Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise: Exploring “The Will of God.”

  - Verbeek, Theo. Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise: Exploring “The Will of God.” London: Ashgate, 2003.
  From the Publisher: “Presents an accessible analysis of Spinoza’s “Tractatus Theologico-politicus”, situating the work in the context of Spinoza’s general philosophy and its 17th-century historical background. According to… More

• “Strauss and Schmitt as Readers of Hobbes and Spinoza: On the Relation Between Political Theology and Liberalism”

  - Vatter, Miguel E. “Strauss and Schmitt as Readers of Hobbes and Spinoza: On the Relation Between Political Theology and Liberalism.” CR: The New Centennial Review 4, no. 3 (2004): 161–214. doi:10.1353/ncr.2005.0025.
  Excerpt: “Among those thinkers who experienced the emergence of totalitarian regimes and lived to offer a theoretical analysis of them, it is not infrequent to notice the absence of what in our times is presented as unquestionable evidence: the… More

• “I Durst Not Write So Boldly’ or, How to Read Hobbes’s Theological-political Treatise”

  - Curley, Edwin. “‘I Durst Not Write So Boldly’ or, How to Read Hobbes’s Theological-political Treatise.” Hobbes e Spinoza, Scienza e Politica, Pp497–593 (1992).
  Excerpt: “One of the most tantalizing anecdotes in Aubrey’s not so brief life of Hobbes concerns Hobbes’ (alleged) reaction to Spinoza’s Theological-Political Trea­tise (TTP).  As recently emended, the entire passage runs as follows:… More

• Spinoza and the Rise of Historical Criticism of the Bible

  - Frampton, Travis L. Spinoza and the Rise of Historical Criticism of the Bible. New York: Continuum, 2006.
  From the Publisher: “Studies tracing the rise of historical criticism of the Bible often consider Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677) the progenitor of this approach, presenting him as a quintessentially modern, rationalaist thinker who developed a… More

• Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism

  - Angel, Marc D. Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009.
  From the Publisher: “A challenging look at two great Jewish philosophers, and what their thinking means to our understanding of God, truth, revelation and reason. Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) is Jewish history’s greatest exponent of a rational,… More

• Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity

  - Goldstein, Rebecca. Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity. New York: Schocken, 2009.
  From the Publisher: “In 1656, Amsterdam’s Jewish community excommunicated Baruch Spinoza, and, at the age of twenty–three, he became the most famous heretic in Judaism. He was already germinating a secularist challenge to religion that would be as… More

• Spinoza’s Revelation: Religion, Democracy, and Reason

  - Levene, Nancy K. Spinoza’s Revelation: Religion, Democracy, and Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  From the Publisher: “Nancy Levene reinterprets a major early-modern philosopher, Benedict de Spinoza – a Jew who was rejected by the Jewish community of his day but whose thought contains, and critiques, both Jewish and Christian ideas. It… 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