Spinoza's Ethics

by Benedict de Spinoza, George Eliot (Translator), Clare Carlisle (Editor)

Overview

An authoritative edition of George Eliot's elegant translation of Spinoza's greatest philosophical work

In 1856, Marian Evans completed her translation of Benedict de Spinoza's Ethics while living in Berlin with the philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes. This would have become the first edition of Spinoza's controversial masterpiece in English, but the translation remained unpublished because of a disagreement between Lewes and the publisher. Later that year, Evans turned to fiction writing, and by 1859 she had published her first novel under the pseudonym George Eliot. This splendid edition makes Eliot's translation of the Ethics available to today's readers while also tracing Eliot's deep engagement with Spinoza both before and after she wrote the novels that established her as one of English literature's greatest writers.

Clare Carlisle's introduction places the Ethics in its seventeenth-century context and explains its key philosophical claims. She discusses George Eliot's intellectual formation, her interest in Spinoza, the circumstances of her translation of the Ethics, and the influence of Spinoza's ideas on her literary work. Carlisle shows how Eliot drew on Spinoza's radical insights on religion, ethics, and human emotions, and brings to light surprising affinities between Spinoza's austere philosophy and the rich fictional worlds of Eliot's novels.

This authoritative edition demonstrates why George Eliot's translation remains one of the most compelling and philosophically astute renderings of Spinoza's Latin text. It includes notes that indicate Eliot's amendments to her manuscript and that discuss her translation decisions alongside more recent English editions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691193243
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/14/2020
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	300,801
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Clare Carlisle is Reader in Philosophy and Theology at King's College London and a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement. Her books include Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard, On Habit, and Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Becoming. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Introductory Material
How to Use This Book List of Abbreviations Editor's Introduction
1. Life and Works
2. 'Demonstrated in Geometrical Order'
3. The Starting-Points of Ethics: Axioms, Postulates, and Definitions
4. Substance and Attributes
5. The Modes of Extension
6. The Modes of Thought
7. Causation and Necessity
8. Truth and the Kinds of Knowledge
9. Conatus
10. The Emotions
11. The Moral Philosophy of the Ethics
12. The Influence of the Ethics
Selected Bibliography A Summary of Spinoza's Ethics
Notes on the Transition
Part 2: The Text
Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order
Part One: On God Part Two: On the Nature and Origin of the Mind Part Three: On the Origin and Nature of Emotions Part Four: On Human Servitude, or On the Strength of Emotions Part Five: On the Power of the Intellect, or On Human Freedom
Part 3: Supplementary Material
Glossary Notes to the Ethics
Index of References Index of Names and Subjects

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A very distinguished scholarly edition by Clare Carlisle, valuable to readers of George Eliot as well as students of Spinoza."—Philip Davis, author of The Transferred Life of George Eliot

"This edition of George Eliot's translation of Spinoza's Ethics makes this important text accessible at last. Clare Carlisle provides a concise overview of Spinoza's philosophy and explores his ideas in connection to Eliot's fiction and intellectual life. This fine book will encourage extended analysis of Eliot's relationship to Spinoza's thought, a subject that has been undervalued and underexplored in the criticism."—Suzy Anger, University of British Columbia

"This book is truly exciting, not only as a work of historical scholarship but also as a genuine work of philosophy that brings to the fore another kind of Spinozism that has barely been studied thus far."—Yitzhak Y. Melamed, author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought

"It is refreshing to encounter George Eliot from the perspective of a philosopher rather than a literary critic, which in this instance has resulted in one of the most lucid accounts available of the affinities between Spinoza and Eliot's fiction. This welcome edition considerably sharpens our picture of Eliot's early career."—Juliette Atkinson, University College London

Editorial Reviews

"This edition will be of most interest to scholars of Eliot seeking more insight into the influence of Spinoza’s thought on her literary work."

Choice

"Carlisle has done a beautiful job editing George Eliot’s translation and providing a scholarly apparatus. . . . This is the edition that George Eliot’s translation of Spinoza’s Ethics has long deserved, and that we have long needed."—-Steven Nadler, La Vie des Idées

From the Publisher