Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza (1632-77) was born, lived and died in Holland, where his family, who were Jews from Portugal, had come as refugees from the Inquisition. He was brought up in the Jewish faith, but was anathematized for his heretical opinions, which had been acquired during a study of Descartes (1596-1649), the founding father of modern philosophy. Descartes too, although French by birth, had lived for most of his creative life in Holland. Thanks to Descartes and the Cartesians, and thanks to the intellectual freedom enjoyed by the Dutch Republic during the years following its successful revolt against Spain, seventeenthcentury Holland was, for a few precious decades, a centre of intellectual life, and the first home of the Enlightenment.<\/p>\n
Freedom of thought is more easily lost than won, and with the rise of Calvinism the tolerant regime of the Republic came to an end. In 1670 Spinoza published a Theologico-Political Treatise, to which he did not add his name, but which was soon discovered to be his work. This treatise defended secular government, the rule of law and freedom of opinion, and was richly illustrated by biblical examples that did not conceal the author’s hostility to the government of priests and pharisees. The Treatise was banned, and its author briefly exiled from Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
In response to this confrontation with authority, Spinoza went to live in retirement among dissenting Christians. He retained an interest in politics, and made several hazardous forays into public life. He also began work on a second political treatise that he never finished. But he published nothing further, and his masterpiece, the Ethics, which had been circulating among eager students for some years before his death, appeared posthumously, and was promptly banned.<\/p>\n
Spinoza led a chaste and studious life, refusing the offer of a professorship at Heidelberg, and developing his thought through correspondence with other scientific and philosophical writers. He had wide-ranging interests, in politics, law, biblical scholarship and painting, as well as in mathematics and physical science. He carried out experiments in optics, and the grinding of lenses for these experiments may have exacerbated the consumption that brought him to an early but peaceful death. He was esteemed by all who knew him, and loved by many. In a letter he wrote:<\/p>\n
So far as in me lies, I value, above all other things out of my control, the joining hands of friendship with men who are lovers of truth. I believe that nothing in the world, of things outside our own control, brings more peace than the possibility of affectionate intercourse with such men; it is just as impossible that the love we bear them can be disturbed … as that truth once perceived should not be assented to.<\/p>\n
That vision of friendship, as bound up with the pursuit of truth, radiates from all Spinoza’s writings. Friendship and the pursuit of truth, he believed, contribute to our highest goal – which is amor mtellectualis Dei, the intellectual love of God. Spinoza’s philosophy was an attempt to reconcile this profoundly religious outlook with the scientific view of man.<\/p>\n
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Roger Scruton<\/strong><\/em> Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza (1632-77) was born, lived and died in Holland, where his family, who were Jews from Portugal, had come as refugees from the Inquisition. He was brought up in the Jewish faith, but was anathematized for his heretical opinions, which had been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1","rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg",900,609,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg",900,609,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=300%2C203&ssl=1",300,203,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"portfolio-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=570%2C570&ssl=1",570,570,true],"portfolio-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=600%2C609&ssl=1",600,609,true],"portfolio-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1",800,600,true],"menu-featured-post":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=345%2C198&ssl=1",345,198,true],"qode-carousel_slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=400%2C260&ssl=1",400,260,true],"portfolio_slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=500%2C380&ssl=1",500,380,true],"portfolio_masonry_regular":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1",500,500,true],"portfolio_masonry_wide":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=900%2C500&ssl=1",900,500,true],"portfolio_masonry_tall":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=500%2C609&ssl=1",500,609,true],"portfolio_masonry_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"portfolio_masonry_with_space":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=700%2C474&ssl=1",700,474,true],"latest_post_boxes":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=539%2C303&ssl=1",539,303,true],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?fit=600%2C406&ssl=1",600,406,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1544b.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Philosophy<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza (1632-77) was born, lived and died in Holland, where his family, who were Jews from Portugal, had come as refugees from the Inquisition. He was brought up in the Jewish faith, but was anathematized for his heretical opinions, which had been...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29015,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29014\/revisions\/29015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Great Philosophers: Spinoza<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"