Was Spinoza influenced by Descartes?

Was Spinoza influenced by Descartes?

Spinoza. Spinoza’s most important work is his Ethics Demonstrated in Geometric Order—henceforth the Ethics. Spinoza worked on the text throughout the 1660s and 70s. By this time Descartes’ philosophy had become widely read and indeed Spinoza’s thinking was heavily influenced by it—including his account of substance.

How did Eastern philosophy begin?

East Asian philosophical thought began in Ancient China, and Chinese philosophy begins during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the following periods after its fall when the “Hundred Schools of Thought” flourished (6th century to 221 BCE).

What is the role of emotion in Spinoza’s ethics?

Spinoza suggests that the emotion of joy arises with the feeling of an increase in power, and the emotion of sadness arises when power is diminished. This means that our endeavour to persist in being is simultaneously a pursuit of joy, or pleasure.

Who is the father of philosophy in Western civilization?

Socrates of Athens
Socrates of Athens (l. c. 470/469-399 BCE) is among the most famous figures in world history for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy which provided the foundation for all of Western Philosophy. He is, in fact, known as the “Father of Western Philosophy” for this reason.

How does Spinoza prove God exists?

Spinoza attempts to prove that God is just the substance of the universe by first stating that substances do not share attributes or essences, and then demonstrating that God is a “substance” with an infinite number of attributes, thus the attributes possessed by any other substances must also be possessed by God.

What was Spinoza’s theory?

What is Spinoza’s view of pleasure?

Spinoza, conversely, views bodily and mental pleasure as coextensive in the sense that they are two different (but ontologically identical) ways of understanding one’s state of self-empowerment.

What influenced Spinoza’s philosophy?

Spinoza was deeply influenced by the philosophy of the Stoics of Ancient Greece and Rome. They had argued that wisdom lies not in protest against how things are, but in continuous attempts to understand the ways of the world – and then bow down peacefully to necessity.

What did Baruch Spinoza contribute to the Enlightenment?

Baruch Spinoza. By laying the groundwork for the Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. Along with René Descartes, Spinoza was a leading philosophical figure of the Dutch Golden Age.

Was Spinoza a political thinker or a rationalist?

At least in anglophone countries, Spinoza’s reputation as a political thinker is eclipsed by his reputation as a rationalist metaphysician. Nevertheless, Spinoza was a penetrating political theorist whose writings have enduring significance.

Is Spinoza’s ‘the ethics’ worth reading?

The Ethics is one of the world’s most beautiful books. It contains a calming, perspective-restoring take on life. It replaces the God of superstition with a wise and consoling pantheism. And yet Spinoza’s work failed utterly to convince any but a few to abandon traditional religion and to move towards a rationalist, wise system of belief.