Spinoza and Two Views of
God
First
Sightings
Readings for this
part of your journey
Appendix to Book I of The Ethics in your course
packet |
The Ethics
 |
| Benedict de
Spinoza |
In this section of the course we are
going to explore a brief section from Benedict de Spinoza's (1632-1677)
Ethics. In this substantial work (it runs to a bit over 200
pages) Spinoza sets forth his system of philosophy in geometrical form. In
order to really read the Ethics effectively requires some
preparatory reading. Unfortunately, we do not have the time for such an
effort. Instead, we are going to read the Appendix to Book I of the
Ethics along with a guide to key points provided by Captain Bill.
Before turning to this material, however, we should consider a bit about
Spinoza and the world in which he grew up.
The
Dutch Republic
 |
Harbour of
Amsterdam
in the 17th century |
Baruch de
Spinoza was born on November 24, 1632. His father was a prominent member
of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. This community was largely made up
of descendants of refugees from the Spanish expulsion of the Jews in 1492.
The Jews were welcomed because they were fellow suffers under Spanish
tyranny.
The Netherlands had revolted against Spain in 1579, when the seven
north provinces had combined in the Union of Utrecht and sought the
protection of William I of Orange. Among the causes of the revolt were the
advances made by the Reformation, and the desire to establish sufficient
freedom to allow the reformed churches to exist. The Union of Utrecht had
proposed to establish a purely secular government which would allow
religious toleration. Still, the Southern provinces had stayed loyal to
Spain, and retained the Roman Catholic religion. The Spanish threat from
the Southern provinces was popularly conceived in religious terms.
Catholics were persecuted in the Dutch Republic much as the Marranos (the
Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity) were in Spain. The
war with Spain continued off and on until the peace of Munster in
1648.
The nation which came into being in the course of this struggle came to
be known as the Dutch Republic was a loose confederation of medieval
cities, represented by the Estates General. Nominally above them, but
also appointed by them, was the Stadtholder. Partly out of gratitude to
William, and partly for convenience and continuity, the office of
Stadtholder was conferred on the House of Orange.
The Calvinist Church gained ascendancy, maneuvering itself in to
supreme political and religious authority in the Dutch Republic. The
doctrine of predestination rapidly became a matter of religious orthodoxy
which had to be defended from unbelievers. The followers of Arminius, a
professor of theology at Leyden, refused to accept these propositions of
the Calvinist doctrine, which seemed to fly in the face of reason, and
issued a 'Remonstrance' in 1610, setting forth their dissident opinions,
and calling on the Estates General to uphold their freedom of worship and
opinion which had been guaranteed at Utrecht. The Statholder, Prince
Maurice of Orange, declared against the Remonstrants, and those who spoke
out in favor of religious freedom, began to feel the hand of established
power. Hugo Grotius, the greatest Dutch jurist of the time, who played an
important role in the establishment of international law, was sentenced to
life imprisonment, from which he escaped into exile. The Synod of Dort in
1619 defined the Dutch Church as a 'community of the elect' thus making
Calvinism the official religion of the Dutch Republic and authorizing the
purging of universities and other places of influence. Nevertheless as
Roger Scruton puts it:
...the new church was unable to suppress the thoughts which disturbed it.
Partly on account of the loose structure of the Republic--in which the
undefined powers of Estates General and Stadtholder could not be combined
into a single minded tyranny-- and partly on account of the legacy of
Utrecht, with its declared ideal of a purely secular government, the
spirit of toleration continued to breathe, and those Remonstrants who were
content to establish themselves apart were allowed to live in relative
tranquillity. At the same time, there flourished around them an equally
remarkable, and for us more interesting, defiance of the Calvinist spirit;
the art and culture of the Netherlands, in which man's relation to the
world of objects, and to his own physical life, became the subject of a
profound spiritual interrogation. (Scruton, Spinoza, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1986 Pg. 4)
It was into this community that the Jews driven out from Spain and
Portugal were welcomed as fellow sufferers from Spanish tyranny. They
seemed less threatening than the dissenting sects which called themselves
Christian without accepting Calvinist doctrines. The new Jewish community
flourished, but had in it conflicts and tensions of its own.
Baruch De
Spinoza
Spinoza spoke Dutch fluently, and Portuguese at home. He knew Spanish
as this was the language of the refugees; and since his education was
dominated by the traditional studies of the Torah and the Talmud, he
learned Hebrew at school. Spinoza, unlike most other European
philosophers, grew up with the medieval Jewish philosophical tradition.
Later he would learn Latin and study the Scholastic and Cartesian
traditions. His Gentile mentor in these philosophies was Francis Van den
Enden who was well versed in both. Cartesianism opened Spinoza's eyes to
a whole new world alien to his rabbinical teachers. Spinoza became
increasing dissatisfied with what he regarded as the rigid dogmatism of
the Jewish community. After a legal conflict with his sister over a
legacy from their father, (which Spinoza won -- and then renounced!)
Spinoza changed his named to Benedict (a Christianized version of his
Hebrew name) and went to teach in Frances Van den Enden's school. The
intellectual gap between Spinoza and the Jewsish community continued to
grow, and in 1656 at the age of 24, Spinoza was accused of heresy, cursed
and expelled from the synagogue.
 |
| Spinoza's house in
Rijnsburg |
He was also briefly expelled from
Amsterdam, but returned and until 1660 made a living by teaching Cartesian
philosophy. During this period Spinoza wrote the Short Treatise on
God, Man and his well being.
In the years after his expulsion, Spinoza learned the skill of lens
grinding, and most of his income came from this source. His interest in
philosophy increased, and when he moved to Rijnsburg in the countryside
near Leiden, he had developed a number of close friends with whom he
corresponded and discussed his ethical, metaphysical and scientific ideas.
His fame as a learned man had spread and he began to receive visits from
people eager to discuss scientific and philosophical questions. One of
these was Henry Oldenburg (1615?-1677) who was to become the first
secretary of the British Royal Society.
 |
Spinoza's
workroom
in Rijnsburg |
Spinoza began
writing the Principles of Cartesian Philosophy and began work on
the Ethics. He finished the Principles in Amsterdam (on
the way to his new home in Voorburg) where his friends had urged him to
complete and publish it. This was, in fact, the only work which Spinoza
published under his own name in his lifetime. It was a geometrical
exposition of the Cartesian system, with an appendix expressing Spinoza's
own metaphysical views, and a preface by Lodewikj Meyer which explained
that Spinoza did not agree with all of the Cartesian arguments. Indeed
his geometrical exposition laid bare its defects.
In Voorburg, Spinoza continued working on the Ethics and
continued his conversations and correspondence with scientists and
philosophers.
 |
| Christian Huygens |
He met Christian
Huygens, an extraordinarily accomplished scientist and mathematician, and
Jan de Witt who held the post of Grand Pensionary of the Dutch Republic.
Jan de Witt was an energetic defender of the principles of religious
tolerance and free speech. Political controversies surrounding the first
Anglo-Dutch War of 1652-4 led to debates about the nature of the state,
and the desirability of free speech and free worship.  |
| Jan De
Witt |
Spinoza's friendship with de Witt led him
to write the Theologico-Politico Treatise which he published
anonymously. This work is a strong defense of secular government,
religious tolerance, and constitutional government. The work was condemned
by the Synod of Dort in 1673, and formally banned in 1674.
In 1671 Charles II of England joined forces with Louis XIV of France
against the Dutch Republic. War was declared in 1672 and 120,000 French
troops marched into the Netherlands. The people, in a state of panic,
blamed this disaster on Jan de Witt and looked to the House of Orange for
salvation. The Orangists did nothing to quell the rumors of de Witt's
treachery, and on the 20th of August, 1672, Jan de Witt and his brother
were seized at the Hague and beaten to death by an angry crowd. Hearing
of this outrage, Spinoza was going to sally forth to the scene carrying a
sign denouncing the assassinations, but was prevented by his landlord and
friend.
In 1673 Spinoza turned down an offer of a pension from the King of
France (Spinoza was visiting the French forces on a fruitless mission of
peace) in return for dedicating a book to the king. Spinoza also turned
down an offer of a professorship at the University of Heidelberg, fearing
it would compromise his independence and tranquillity. Spinoza moved to
the Hague.
 |
| G. Leibniz
|
In 1675 Spinoza finished the Ethics
and was preparing it to have it published when a rumor began spreading
that he was about to publish a book which sought to show there was no God.
The reaction to this rumor forces Spinoza to put off publication. In
October 1676 Leibniz, who had left Paris and was returning to Germany via
England (where he was elected a member of the English Royal Society) came
to Amsterdam, where he spent four weeks with Spinoza's friend and disciple
Schuller.  |
The room in
which
Spinoza died |
In 1675 Leibniz had met
Count Tschirnhausen, who was one of Spinoza's most intelligent and
critical correspondents. Tschinrnhausen had introduced Leibniz to
Spinoza's work. In November 1676 Leibniz met Spinoza at the Hague and
pointed out some fundamental mistakes in Cartesian mechanics. In return,
he was allowed to see some parts of the Ethics. Spinoza and
Leibniz share many basic assumptions in common, but come to quite opposed
views. Later Leibniz was to be very critical of Spinoza's philosophy.
On February 21, 1677 Spinoza died of a lung ailment complicated by the
glass dust from his lens grinding. A few months later his friends
published the Ethics,Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect,
Political Treatise, and a Hebrew Grammar.