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Baruch Spinoza: Works
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Spinoza's earliest philosophical writings, dating from the late 1650s and early 1660s, include the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect and the aborted Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being. He first came to public attention with the publication of a critical exposition of Descartes's Principles of Philosophy (1663). It was the anonymously published Theological-Political Treatise of 1670... that brought him great notoriety. The reaction to this stunningly bold work of Bible criticism and political thought was immediate and harsh; it was banned by numerous political and religious authorities, and its author was excoriated as a blaspheming atheist. As a result of the outcry, Spinoza decided not to publish his philosophical masterpiece, the Ethics; it did not appear in print until after his death, together with other unpublished writings, including A Compendium of Hebrew Grammar, some correspondence, and the never-completed Political Treatise.
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Spinoza initially received a traditional orthodox Jewish education, studying Talmud and Hebrew as a child and a young adult under Menasseh Ben Israel and afterwards under Rabbi Shaul David Morteira at the Keter Torah Yeshiva. At the same time, Spinoza apparently worked in his father's business. Miguel Spinoza died in 1654 when Spinoza when 22, and he and his brother founded a fruit export-import business.
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Spinoza himself did little significant original work in the physical or mathematical sciences. He had a solid grasp of optical theory and of the then-current physics of light, and was competent enough to engage in sophisticated discussion with correspondents over fine points in the mathematics of refraction. Writing in 1666 to the mathematician Johannes Hudde, who had an interest in the cutting and polishing of lenses, Spinoza offered a geometrical argument for why he believed that, when it came down to focal length and the diameter of the optic tube, convex/plane lenses were preferable to convex/concave lenses.3(p209) Moreover, he insisted, not only do convex/plane lenses require less "labor and expense" to produce, but the rays passing through convex/concave lenses, because they are not all directed to one and the same point, never fall perpendicularly on the concave surface.
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In a broader context, Spinoza's deconstructionism of identity has interesting parallels with Amartya Sen's recent anti-Huntingtonian thesis, elaborated in his recent books "Identity and Violence" and (to an extent) "The Argumentative Indian." To quote from the former work, "The same person can be, without any contradiction, an American citizen, of Caribbean origin, with African ancestry, a Christian, a liberal, a woman, a vegetarian, a long-distance runner, a historian, a schoolteacher, a novelist, a feminist, a heterosexual, a believer in gay and lesbian rights, a theater lover, an environmental activist, a tennis fan, a jazz musician," etc. And unlike Ms. Goldstein, Sen argues that such a world-view - of self as well as of others - is eminently possible and desirable.
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Spinoza began his literary career in the late 1650s. His first work, the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, tried to formulate a philosophical method that would allow the mind to form the clear and distinct ideas that are necessary for its perfection. His method was clearly based on Cartesian philosophy, but quickly departs from it in essentials. The work included, in addition, reflection upon the various kinds of knowledge, an extended treatment of definition, and a lengthy analysis of the nature and causes of doubt.
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Spinoza is an important historical figure in the Netherlands, where his portrait was featured prominently on the Dutch 1000-guilder banknote, legal tender until the euro was introduced in 2002. The highest and most prestigious scientific award of the Netherlands is named the Spinoza prijs (Spinoza prize). Spinoza's work is ... mentioned as the favourite reading material for Bertie Wooster's valet Jeeves in the P. G. Wodehouse novels.
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