Spinoza on Philosophy, Religion, and Politics

The Theologico-Political Treatise
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-19-969812-7
Verlag: OUP UK

Buch, Englisch, 360 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 705 g

Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise is simultaneously a work of philosophy and a piece of practical politics. It defends religious pluralism, a republican form of political organisation, and the freedom to philosophise, with a determination that is extremely rare in seventeenth-century thought. But it is also a fierce and polemical intervention in a series of Dutch disputes over issues about which Spinoza and his opponents cared very deeply.
Susan James makes the arguments of the Treatise accessible, and their motivations plain, by setting them in their historical and philosophical context. She identifies the interlocking theological, hermeneutic, historical, philosophical, and political positions to which Spinoza was responding, shows who he aimed to discredit, and reveals what he intended to achieve. The immediate goal of the Treatise is, she establishes, a local one. Spinoza is trying to persuade his fellow
citizens that it is vital to uphold and foster conditions in which they can cultivate their capacity to live rationally, free from the political manifestations and corrosive psychological effects of superstitious fear. At the same time, however, his radical argument is designed for a broader audience. Appealing to the
universal philosophical principles that he develops in greater detail in his Ethics, and drawing on the resources of imagination to make them forceful and compelling, Spinoza speaks to the inhabitants of all societies, including our own. Only in certain political circumstances is it possible to philosophise, and learn to live wisely and well.

Zielgruppe

Scholars and advanced students of history of philosophy, political philosophy, and intellectual history.

Autoren/Hrsg.

James, Susan

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: Neuzeit
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
1: Spinoza's Project
Part I. Revelation
2: The Meaning of Prophecy
3: What Divine Law Is Not
4: What Divine Law Is
5: Worship
Part 2. Demystifying the Bible
6: The Meaning of Scripture
7: Putting the Proper Interpretative Method to Work
Part 3. Meeting the Demands of a Religious Life
8: True Religion
9: Theology and Philosophy
Part 4. The Politics of True Religion
10: Life in a Republic. The Lessons of Philosophy
11: Life in a Republic. The Lessons of Theology
12: Sovereignty and Freedom
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

James, Susan
Susan James is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College London, and the author of several books, including Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, also published by Oxford University Press. Her main areas of interest are early-modern philosophy, feminist philosophy, political philosophy, and the intersections between these three subjects.