The Ethics of Joy: Spinoza on the Empowered Life

by Andrew Youpa

Overview

Philosopher Andrew Youpa offers a novel reading of Spinoza's moral philosophy. Unlike approaches to moral philosophy that center on praiseworthiness and blameworthiness, Youpa argues that Spinoza's moral philosophy is about how to live lovingly and joyously, not hatefully or sorrowfully. It is, fundamentally, an ethics of joy.

Central to this reading is a defense of the view that there is a way of life that is best for human beings, and that what makes it best is its alignment with human nature. This is not, significantly, an ethics of accountability, or what a person does or does not deserve. Morality's role is not to assign credit or blame to individuals in an economy of good and evil; rather, it is to heal the sick and empower the vulnerable. It is an ethics centered on what, with respect to mental and physical well-being, requires our attention. Spinoza's ethics adheres to a medical model of morality, enacting and embodying a system of care to ourselves, care to others, and care to things in the world around us.

From this approach, Youpa defends a comprehensive reading of Spinoza's moral philosophy, including its realism, pluralism, and the importance of friendship and education, which are the greatest sources of empowerment and joy. Empowering ourselves and others begins with love: the type of love that Spinoza refers to as the virtue of modestia, or humble devotion to others with their true well-being in mind. Youpa's examination starts with an original interpretaion of Spinoza's theory of emotions, and then turns to the metaphysical foundation of his moral philosophy and its normative and practical implications.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190086022
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/13/2020
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Andrew Youpa is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He has published articles on aspects of the moral theories of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, and is co-editor of Essays on Spinoza's Ethical Theory (Oxford University Press, 2014).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Spinoza's Symptomatic Theory of Emotions
Chapter 2: Emotions as Axiological Information
Chapter 3: Spinoza's Moral Realism
Chapter 4: Spinoza and Anti-Realism
Chapter 5: Underivative Goodness and Underivative Badness
Chapter 6: Derivative Goodness and Derivative Badness
Chapter 7: Summum Mentis Bonum
Chapter 8: The Empowered Life: Freedom
Chapter 9: The Empowered Life: Tenacity
Chapter 10: The Empowered Life: Nobility
Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"The Ethics of Joy offers reconstructive argument, careful engagement with select literature, and a big — picture presentation of Spinoza's view of the well-lived human life ... The Ethics of Joy is a cohesive, clearly argued, and provocative study." — Julie R. Klein, Journal of the History of Philosophy

"The Ethics of Joy is a cohesive, clearly argued, and provocative study." — Julie R. Klein, Journal of the History of Philosophy

"Andrew Youpa's new book The Ethics of Joy takes these intuitively appealing features of Spinoza's thought and rigorously explores their exegetical validity and conceptual coherence. The result is a remarkably lucid interpretation of Spinoza's moral philosophy, with rewards equally for readers seeking an introduction to the terrain and for scholars at the cutting edge of current Spinozism." — Mind

"Youpa's book is the culmination of twenty years of research on Spinoza's ethics, which until now has been available only in articles. It is a must read for anyone interested in the subject... It makes an indispensable contribution to the growing literature on the subject, and it charts a path for future research by raising important new topics and questions." — Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

From the Publisher