Baruch Spinoza: biography of this Sephardic philosopher and thinker

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a modern philosopher, currently recognized as one of the leading exponents of rationalism. Among his works, it stands out to problematize and provide a different understanding of nature in relation to with divinity, as well as having discussed in an important way moral, political and religious.

In the next article we will see the biography of Baruch Spinozaas well as a brief description of his main contributions to modern philosophy.

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Biography of Baruch Spinoza: rationalist philosopher

Baruch Spinoza, originally called Benedictus (in Latin) or Bento de Spinoza (In Portuguese), was born on November 24, 1632 in Amsterdam. His parents were Jews who had emigrated to Spain and later to Portugal. There they were forced to convert to Christianity, although they continued to practice Judaism in secret. After being arrested by the inquisition, they finally fled to Amsterdam.

In this city, Baruch's father developed as an important merchant and later as director of the city's synagogue. On his part, Baruch Spinoza's mother died when he was just six years old.

Before arriving in Amsterdam, Spinoza had already been trained in institutes with a Roman Catholic focus. In the same period he was trained in Hebrew and Jewish philosophy. Already in Amsterdam, at the age of 19, Spinoza worked as a small merchant, while continuing to study in schools with an orthodox Jewish approach.

At this time, Spinoza he was especially interested in Cartesian philosophy, mathematics and Hobbesian philosophy; which led him further and further away from Judaism. He gradually became very critical of the accuracy and interpretation of the Bible, especially regarding the idea of ​​the immortality of the soul, the notion of transcendence and the laws dictated by God, as well as the binding of him to the community bean. The latter earned him excommunication.

In fact, it was in this period that Spinoza began to change his name from Hebrew to Latin, probably due to the possibility of retaliation and censorship. In fact, he refused to teach at the University of Heidelberg because they asked him not to alter the current religious slogans.

Baruch Spinoza spent his last years in The Hague, where he died of tuberculosis on 21 February 1677, at age 44 and without having completed one of his last works, called a treatise political.

Ethics

One of the themes on which Spinoza's work was centered was ethics. In fact, Ethical demonstrated according to the geometric order, is the name of the most representative work of him. In this, Spinoza discussed the traditional philosophical conception about God and about the human being, about the universe and the underlying moral beliefs in religion and theology. Among other things, the philosopher wanted to show that God actually exists, as well as nature and ourselves.

Heir to Cartesian thought, that he suggested the possibility of finding a rational and algebraic explanation of the existence of God, but also faithful to the Jewish, Stoic and scholastic formation of him, Baruch maintained the existence of a single substance infinite.

The difference with the thought of Descartes is that, for Spinoza, this substance is unique (Descartes spoke of two), and can be equivalent to nature and at the same time to God. From there discusses the relationship between nature and the divine. And since God is not caused by anything, that is, nothing precedes him, then he exists. Or put another way, God, as a unique and divine substance, is that which is conceived right there. This is one of the most representative ontological arguments about their existence in different works of modern rationalism.

Not only that, but Spinoza maintains that, consequently, the human mind can know either through thought, or through its extension. This takes Descartes as a model, but at the same time makes a difference, since the latter said that the knowledge came only through thought, and that extension (nature) made reason err.

Spinoza argues that there are three types of human knowledge: one derived from the slavery of the passions, another related to reason and the consciousness of causes (whose value is control of passions), and the third is disinterested intuition assimilated to the point of view of God. The latter is the only one capable of providing the only possible human happiness.

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Treatise on Political Theology

The Tractatus, a work that earned Spinoza important recognition, combines biblical criticism, political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion with the development of metaphysics. Something that is represented in an important way is the distance and Spinoza's critique of the Bible.

For Spinoza, the themes this book presents are riddled with inconsistencies that can explained through the scientific study of language, history and beliefs of the times past. For this reason it is believed that it is one of the works that also earned Spinoza excommunication.

Thus, Spinoza sets out to reveal the truth about scripture and religion, and in this way sabotage or question the political power exercised in modern states by the authorities religious. He also defends, at least as a political ideal, tolerant, secular and democratic politics. Among other things, Spinoza rejected the term and the conceptions about morality, because he considers that it is only about ideals.

Other of the most representative works of him are Brief treatise on God, man and happiness Y Of the reform of the understanding.

Bibliographic references:

• Nadler, S. (2016). Baruch Spinoza. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved October 30, 2018. Available in https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/#TheoPoliTrea.
• Popkin, R. (2018). Benedict de Spinoza. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved October 30, 2018. Available in https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benedict-de-Spinoza#ref281280.