|
His Youth
Spinoza was born in 1632 in
Amsterdam of a Jewish family that had moved to the Netherlands from Portugal
to escape persecution. He was given the Hebrew name "Baruch,"
meaning "blessed," which translates into the Latin as "Benedictus."
He grew up in comfort--for his father was a prosperous merchant.
But his mother died when he was only 6 years old. He attended a local
Jewish school where he was taught a Hebrew curriculum--from the Talmud,
to mathematics, to Jewish mysticism. At age 11 his father died--and
his stepsister laid claim to the entire family fortune. Thus Spinoza
was on his own at an early age.
Excommunication from the Jewish
Community (1656)
He attended a Jewish high school
in Amsterdam, where one of his teachers was Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel--the
same individual who was able to work out with Cromwell the re-entry of
Jews to England. In school his freethinking ways got him in trouble
with his very orthodox Jewish teachers. He was at heart a skeptical
humanist with respect to the teachings of the Jewish scriptures.
He would not accept certain of the biblical stories as being literally
true--and viewed Moses as having been no more exceptional than any other
enlightened leader of the past.
At age 18, he moved in with
a teacher, Francis van den Enden, a former Jesuit, and helped him out with
his teaching duties. During this time, he developed his abilities
in Latin and Greek, cultivated the logical method of the neo-scholastics,
and was introduced to the teachings of Rene Descartes.
Finally in 1656, at age 23,
after repeated attempts by the synagogue leadership to get Spinoza to conform
his thinking to orthodox ways--and to move away from the influence of van
den Ende--he was excommunicated from Judaism.
He was free-thinking, yes--but
not indifferent to the opinions of his Jewish community. He tried
to restore the broken relationship with his Jewish community. But
could not find any common ground or point of entry back into full standing
in his Jewish society.
He also at this time began
to apprentice as a lens grinder, building telescopes, microscopes and eyeglasses.
Entry into Secular Philosophical
Studies (1660)
And during this time he cultivated
a circle of friends who delighted in discussing the religious and philosophical
issues of the day (heavily shaped by Descartes). Spinoza found himself
becoming more deeply interested in these matters--and in 1660 he moved
to a village outside Leyden, Rijnsburg, (a gathering place of Cartesian
scholars) to devote more time to his thoughts.
His First Philosophical Works
(1662)
He moved in with Hermann Homan,
and in the Homan cottage Spinoza began to write philosophy. By early
1662 he had put together Korte Verhandeling van God, de Mensch und deszelfs
Welstand (Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being)--from
notes he had begun to assemble in his Amsterdam days--and Tractatus
de intellectus emendatione (Treatise on the Improvement of the Understanding)--originally
intending both writings to be a part of a single work.
He also at this time wrote
the first book of a more ambitious project,
Ethica (Ethics).
He also was a prolific letter-writer, remaining in contact with his study
group in Amsterdam--and taking up a 15-year correspondence with Heinrich
Oldenburg, a secretary of the British Royal Society.
His Commentaries on Descartes
(1663)
The writings of Descartes formed
the focal point of his labors during this time--as Spinoza was deeply involved
in teaching and writing either in support or refutation of Cartesianism.
His work was becoming widely recognized--even a philosophical circle had
been formed to study his works.
From this circle in 1663
came the request for him to publish his commentaries on Descartes' major
work, Principia, as a book of his own, Renati des Cartes principiorum
philosophiae (Philosophical Principles of Rene Descartes).
He Develops the Methodology
for the Ethics
In the meantime he was working
on systematizing his own philosophical thoughts and readying them for print--as
part of his Ethica project. He decided against the dialogue
form of philosophical writing and instead employed the use of proofs drawn
up in the manner of geometry. So...for the next two years,
during which time me moved in 1665 to Voorburg (near The Hague), he concentrated
on finishing the Ethics (in full: Ethica ordine geometrica
demonstrata).
The Tractatus theologico-politicus
(1670)
But just as he was nearing completion
of this work, he turned his attentions to another work entitled Tractatus
theologico-politicus, which he published in 1670. He had been
under criticism since his youth concerning his free-thinking ways and he
felt compelled to write the Tractatus in order to answer accusations,
direct and indirect, that thoughts such as his posed a threat to the intellectual
and spiritual integrity of his society. As he contemplated the completion
of the Ethics his thoughts were turning to the question of its receptivity--especially
given the mood of intellectual intolerance he was feeling around himself.
Indirectly, he was hoping
to set the record straight about a number of misconception floating around
him. He did not see himself as an atheist (though he was quite distinctly
a pantheist). He felt strongly that his commentaries on scripture
were given in the very spirit of scripture itself. Indeed, he felt
most strongly that to try to curb free spiritual inquiry was itself in
violation of everything that scripture teaches. Thus the Tractatus
was written in order to answer the deep intellectual intolerance which
seemed to permeate the culture around him.
In the same year of the publication
of the Tractatus Spinoza moved to the Hague--where he would live
out the rest of the years of his rather short life. Again he delayed
publication of the Ethics and turned his thoughts to writing a Hebrew
grammar. But this too he did not complete, turning instead back to
further work on the Ethics.
Political Dangers
Politics intervened to shape
aspects of his life at this point. Spinoza had come under the approval
of one of the Dutch magistrates, Jan de Witt, and through his support had
been able to bring the Tractatus out for publication. When
in 1672 de Witt was murdered, Spinoza was both outraged--and greatly endangered
by his demonstrating that outrage. Friends convinced Spinoza not
to speak out, but remain silent. Life without a political patron
was more dangerous than ever.
Also, though the Tractatus
had been well received since its publication in 1670, in some parts it
was met with intense anger--within both the Jewish and Christian communities.
His enemies were numerous, and influential. Nonetheless when he was
invited in 1673 to take up the Philosophy Chair at the University of Heidelberg,
he refused. He wanted to focus his efforts on the continuing development
of his philosophical system.
Further--in his naivete,
Spinoza in 1673 decided to take it upon himself to travel to Utrecht, then
under occupation by French troops of the ambitious Louis XIV, to negotiate
a peace between the Dutch and the French. When he returned empty-handed
to the Hague, his enemies were loud in their suspicions of treachery on
Spinoza's part.
Thus the times were not right
for the publication of the Ethics--even though it had definitely
come to completion in 1675.
His Early Death (1677)
But now his health was failing.
Having too long breathed the glass dust from his optical work his lungs
were weakend and finally became diseased. On February 20, 1677 he
died and four days later was buried in Spuy at the New Church.
Ethics Published Posthumously
(1677)
Thus it was only after his death
that the Ethics finally underwent secret publication in Amsterdam.
|
Spinoza:
An Overview
His
Life and Works
His
Major Ideas
Spinoza's Writings
Spinoza' major works or writings:
Miles
H. Hodges
