Spinoza and Spinozism

Summer Term 2016, Mondays, 17:00 – 19:00, ten weeks starting 11^th April

Course Tutor: John Heyderman.

Bertrand Russell called Spinoza “the noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers” while Albert Einstein professed a belief in ‘Spinoza’s God’. Yet in his lifetime, Spinoza was reviled as an atheist and after his death ‘Spinozism’ became a term of abuse for those accused of irreligion or heresy. Focusing on his masterwork the Ethics, we will be examining what Spinoza meant by ‘God or Nature’, looking at his radical identification of mind and body, as well as his ethical and political thought. We shall also discuss Spinoza’s far-reaching influence on later philosophers as diverse as Schelling, Nietzsche, Deleuze, and how he inspired the Norwegian environmentalist Arne Næss and the Argentinian writer Jorge-Luis Borgès.

To enrol, please e-mail John (john[at]londonschoolofphilosophy.org).