Skip to main content

Spinoza

Metaphysics1 episode

Baruch Spinoza envisioned God and Nature as one infinite substance. His Ethics, written in geometric form, is a radical vision of freedom, reason, and the unity of all things.

Episodes

God or Nature | Spinoza's Complete Philosophy
Metaphysics2:58:46

God or Nature | Spinoza's Complete Philosophy

Spinoza's Complete Philosophy

Deus sive Natura. God or Nature. With these three Latin words, Baruch Spinoza announced the most dangerous idea of the seventeenth century: that God and Nature are one and the same infinite reality. This episode follows Spinoza from Amsterdam's Portuguese-Jewish community through his excommunication at age twenty-three, his quiet years as a lens grinder, to his posthumous influence on Einstein and the Romantics. We trace the geometric arguments of the Ethics through substance monism, mind-body parallelism, the affects, human bondage, and the path to freedom through understanding. The full episode is on YouTube and Spotify. Please listen only in safe, restful contexts.

Recommended Reading

Ethics by Benedict de Spinoza

Ethics

Benedict de Spinoza

advanced

Spinoza's magnum opus, written in geometric form, arguing that God and Nature are one substance and that freedom comes through understanding.

Get this book
Spinoza: A Life by Steven Nadler

Spinoza: A Life

Steven Nadler

intermediate

An engaging biography of Spinoza that traces his excommunication from the Jewish community and his radical philosophical project.

Get this book
Spinoza's Ethics: An Introduction by Steven Nadler

Spinoza's Ethics: An Introduction

Steven Nadler

beginner

A clear, step-by-step guide through Spinoza's notoriously difficult Ethics, making its arguments accessible to newcomers.

Get this book

Related Philosophers

SchopenhauerThomas LigottiLovecraftEmily Dickinson