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Spinoza, Baruch

Born: 24 November 1632, Amsterdam

Died: 21 February 1677, The Hague

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

  • 104 Accesses

Abstract

Spinoza’s philosophy radically changed the framework of Western thought in the seventeenth century and deeply influenced its further development. Drawing on different traditions of thought, he created a system of philosophy which challenged the views of his contemporary readers in almost every domain. From his metaphysics to his epistemology, from his account of morals to his political theory, from his method of interpreting Scripture to the method of exposition that he employed in his main work – namely, the Ethics Demonstrated in Geometrical Order (1677) – there is not a single aspect of Spinoza’s philosophy which has not been thoroughly examined and discussed. Yet, Spinoza’s theses and arguments continue to influence philosophical debates. Spinoza’s substance monism, his identification of God with nature, his strict necessitarianism, his unique account of the mind–body relationship and of human affects, and his passionate defense of religious freedom and freedom of thought are still a source of inspiration for many thinkers and the focus of several studies, not necessarily related to the limited domain of the history of philosophy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of the History of Philosophy, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Oberto Marrama

  2. Département de philosophie et des arts, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada

    Oberto Marrama

Authors
  1. Oberto Marrama
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Correspondence to Oberto Marrama .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. Finnish Center of Political Thought & Conceptual Change, JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO, Finland

    Vasileios Syros

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Marrama, O. (2019). Spinoza, Baruch. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_840-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_840-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

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