Part 1 – Life and Philosophical Development:
There are many events in Spinoza’s life that could have influenced his philosophical views. Philosopher Yirmiyahu Yovel explains that Spinoza was the child of Marrano parents; Marranos was a term used for those Jews living in Iberia who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity, but often practiced Judaism in secret. His parents then fled to Amsterdam to escape persecution and rejoin the Jewish community. This is where Spinoza was born. Therefore, Spinoza was able to receive a traditional Jewish education that included Jewish philosophy, mathematics, physics, and astronomy to prepare him for a life in commerce. Spinoza also knew the Bible and the Talmud well and took issue with several of the ideas presented in each.
Yovel stresses the importance of Spinoza’s upbringing as a Marrano Jew. He states that the Marrano way of life led to several varying results for the Jews involved: some pretended to be Christian while secretly practicing Judaism, some fully converted to Christianity, and some, including Spinoza, broke from both traditions. Yovel argues this is the result of the “split mind” and duality of identity that is created when a person cannot belong fully to either religion. No matter which route a Marrano chose, they could never fully belong, internally or externally, to either side. This led some to opt out of both sides, and try, as Spinoza did, to find their own path to the truth of morality and spirituality. Yovel argues that Spinoza’s search culminated in a “philosophy of immanence”, which holds that: “All being is this-worldly and there is nothing beyond it, neither a personal creator-God who imposes His divine will on man, nor supernatural powers or values of any kind. The laws of morality and politics, too, and even religion, stem from this world by the natural power of reason; and recognizing this is the prelude and precondition for human emancipation.” (Yovel, v.2, p.9) Views such as these would lead to Spinoza’s excommunication at the age of twenty-four. However, this new philosophy could be found in the first part of the Ethics that already existed just four years after his excommunication.
Historian Jonathan Israel places more emphasis on Spinoza’s philosophies concerning government that are found in the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. By describing Spinoza as someone who was reluctant to leave the family business, he paints a picture of a man who was disturbed by the loss of his father’s business and “no friend of the English Commonwealth” who caused the business to fail. He quotes sections of Spinoza’s Improvement of the Understanding to show that he was uncertain about a life of philosophy, such as: how it would be “inadvisable…to abandon something certain for something uncertain”, and his wondering “whether it might be possible to achieve my new way of life, or at least certainty about it, without changing the order and form of my ordinary existence.” (Israel, p.165) However, a series of “shattering blows to the family business” in the early 1650s forced him to make the change he feared, and the English were the primary cause. (Israel, p.166) Israel explains that Spinoza’s family lost their business in the same way that so many Amsterdam businesses were bankrupted during this time, the English seizure of Dutch ships during the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-4) and the eighteen months leading up to it. He believes this led to Spinoza’s antagonistic views of a monarchical government.
In my next section I will
show how these philosophical theories influenced the Enlightenment, and provide
some examples of people you may know of that were fans of Spinoza's work. And, for a very interesting narration of Spinoza's life, and some of his how far his influence spanned, check out the YouTube link below to here Charlton Heston tell you all about it!
Links Used
You can read all the information I used in the preview of these books on the site.
https://www.amazon.com/Spinoza-Other-Heretics-Vol-1/dp/0691020787
https://www.amazon.com/Spinoza-Other-Heretics-Vol-1/dp/0691020787
Nice intro to Spinoza. Can you speak to the criticism of those who would object that “All being is this-worldly and there is nothing beyond it..." is a dogmatic claim? Does Spinoza think he can demonstrate it as logically necessary? Do you find that persuasive?
ReplyDelete