The Essence of Spinoza's Ethics

by Hunter Lewis (Editor)

Overview

Axios Press's Essence of… series takes the greatest works ever written in the field of practical philosophy and pares them down to their essence. We select the best passages-the ones that are immediately relevant to us today, full of timeless wisdom and advice about the world and how best to live our lives-and leave behind the more obscure or less important bits. Our selections are not isolated: they flow together to create a seamless work that will capture your interest and attention from page one. And we provide useful notes and a solid introduction to the work.

Baruch Spinoza is regarded as one of the very greatest of the Western philosophers. A Jewish lens grinder, he was expelled from his synagogue, never married, and lived as a boarder, supporting himself with daily work while corresponding with the great minds of Europe. Deliberately rejecting wealth, pleasure, and fame, he found complete contentment in developing a deductive logic that underlay both his view of the world and his famous ethics.

Einstein said: "I believe in Spinoza's God." The great German author Goethe said:" [In] the Ethics of this man… I found the serenity to calm my passions…

That wonderful sentence 'he who truly loves God must not desire God to love him in return'… filled my whole subsequent thought."

This new edition makes Spinoza's own words understandable by everyone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604190564
Publisher:	Axios Press
Publication date:	08/16/2012
Pages:	219
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction: Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) 1

Book 1 On the Improvement of the Understanding 9

Book 2 The Ethics 21

Part A God 23

Part B Mind and Emotion 31

Part C The Power of Reason (Gaining Human Freedom) 45

Appendix A God 49

Part I Concerning God 49

Appendix B Mind and Emotion 55

Part II Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind 55

Part III On the Origin and Nature of the Emotions 56

Part IV Of Human Bondage, or the Strength of the Emotions 79

Appendix C The Power of Reason (Gaining Human Freedom) 145

Part V On the Power of the Understanding, or of Human Freedom 145

Book 3 Letters 175

Index 207