In the Latin edition of Baruch Spinoza’s magnum opus, the Ethics, he writes, “That eternal and infinite being we call God, or Nature, acts from the same necessity from which he exists.” This formula—Deus sive Natura, God or Nature—is the cornerstone of a radical new philosophy that Spinoza fashioned in the wake of Descartes’ mind-body dualism. Rejecting Descartes’ view, Spinoza argued instead for a monistic materialism, claiming that the entire universe was but one physical embodied substance and that all things in it were necessarily interconnected “properties” or aspects of that single substance: God or Nature. This idea was condemned almost immediately as an amoral, atheistic creed, and the epithet of “Spinozist” became an accusation of the highest order. And yet, Spinoza’s 17th-century ideas not only endure, but have gained increasing influence and purchase on a range of intellectual fields from the 19th century on.
In this class we will read the entirety of the Ethics, paying careful attention to the arguments that Spinoza “geometrically” outlines and to their implications, which he begins to develop within his own scholia [commentaries] within the text. These commentaries in turn serve as an important lens into the political ideas expressed in his Theological-Political Treatise. We will also examine key moments in the reception of the Ethics, from thinkers in Spinoza’s own time to Marxists like Friedrich Engels and Georgi Plekhanov to more contemporary reflections, including Jonathan Israel’s “radical enlightenment” history, Gilles Deleuze’s poststructuralist philosophy, and Frédéric Lordon’s Spinozist economics. Which Spinoza can we recognize? The Jewish heretic cast out of his Amsterdam community in 1656 for unspecified “evil opinions and acts”? Spinoza, the radical democrat? Spinoza, the physicist? Spinoza, the anarchist? Spinoza, the affect theorist? What, if any, roles did Spinoza’s life and learning as a Sephardic Jew play in Spinoza’s philosophy? This class will address these questions and more as we study the Ethics and trace its enduring legacies in philosophy, politics, science, and religion.
Note:
There *is* no physical Brooklyn Institute. We hold our classes all over (thus far) Brooklyn and Manhattan, in alternative spaces ranging from the back rooms of bars to bookstores to spaces in cultural centers, including the Center for Jewish History, the Goethe-Institut, and the Barnard Center for Research on Women. We can (and do) turn any space into a classroom. You will be notified of the exact location when you register for a class.
