The God of Spinoza: metaphysics and the good life

In his major work the Ethics, Spinoza offers shrewd advice about how to lead a happier, more stable, and more meaningful life: How do you keep your head cool in times of stress? How to deal with destructive and unstable emotions? What ultimately is of value in life? What precisely is the nature of human happiness? Spinoza embeds his advice in a well-thought-out view about the nature of things, his metaphysics with which he opens the Ethics. We need, so Spinoza tells us, to have a clear unde...