Ethics

Benedict Spinoza is a foundational, landmark figure in the history of world philosophy. Spinoza's teachings continue the revolutionary movements of thought initiated by Descartes in European philosophy, rejecting the values of bygone centuries, medieval religious dogma, and the infallibility of authorities. Spinoza was a philosophical rebel of his time; his community turned away from him for his free thought and freethinking. Spinoza became an outcast, pursued by the church, which, however, did not shake either his views or the components of his teachings. In world philosophy, there have been thinkers distinguished by poetic style; there have been those whose elevated pathos set them apart; there have been those noted for simplicity in presenting material or, conversely, for complexity. However, there has never been in the history of philosophy such a well-argued, "mathematical" philosopher. Spinoza's "Ethics" is as if not a book, but a set of infinitely strict equations, formulas, causes, and effects. For Spinoza, philosophy is something more than man, his thoughts and feelings, and thus there is no place for humanity in philosophy. Spinoza deliberately ignores any humaneness in his works, leaving only bare, geometrically precise, polished proofs, scholia, and corollaries, from which one of the most astonishing philosophical systems in history is constructed.