The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza's Ethics

by Edited by Olli Koistinen

• ISBN13: 9780521618601
• ISBN10: 0521618606
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-08-31
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Since its publication in 1677, Spinoza's Ethics has fascinated philosophers, novelists, and scientists alike. It is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and contested works of Western philosophy. Written in an austere, geometrical fashion, the work teaches us how we should live, ending with an ethics in which the only thing good in itself is understanding. Spinoza argues that only that which hinders us from understanding is bad and shows that those endowed with a human mind should devote themselves, as much as they can, to a contemplative life. This Companion volume provides a detailed, accessible exposition of the Ethics. Written by an internationally known team of scholars, it is the first anthology to treat the whole of the Ethics and is written in an accessible style.

Author Biography

Olli Koistinen is professor of philosophy at the University of Turku in Finland. He is the co-editor, with John Biro, of Spinoza: Metaphysical Themes.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors page	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Textual History of Spinoza's Ethics	p. 26
The Geometrical Order in the Ethics	p. 42
Spinoza's Ontology	p. 56
Substance Monism and Identity Theory in Spinoza	p. 79
Spinoza and the Stoics on Substance Monism	p. 99
Spinoza on Necessity	p. 118
Knowledge in Spinoza's Ethics	p. 140
Spinoza on Action	p. 167
The Anatomy of the Passions	p. 188
Freedom, Slavery, and the Passions	p. 223
Spinoza's Theory of the Good	p. 242
The Power of Reason in Spinoza	p. 258
Spinoza on the Essence of the Human Body and the Part of the Mind That Is External	p. 284
Bibliography	p. 303
Index	p. 317
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