Monday, February 4, 2019

Bailey on Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza (Bailey Kintz)



Baruch Spinoza was born in 1632 in Amsterdam. His name means “blessed” in all translations. Baruch was born and raised in a Portuguese-Jewish community. He was enrolled in Talmad Torah school as a young boy and was being prepared for a career as a rabbi. He was on track for becoming a rabbi, when he had to drop out to help his family’s business. Baruch quickly became a very influential philosopher. He worked closely with the Enlightenment and his ideas were very controversial. He denied the immortality of the soul, rejected a transcendent, providential God and said that the Law was not given by God. He left his faith and then left Amsterdam altogether.
His most famous work was the Ethics. This is a work that critiques traditional philosophy and conceptions of God. It also challenged the traditional ideas of the human being, the universe and moral beliefs. Spinoza wanted to lay out the truth in his work. He argued that human happiness and well-being are found in the life of reason. After this, Spinoza studied and wrote as a private scholar. Spinoza died in 1677 at age 44 from tuberculosis or silicosis due to grinding lenses in his life. He is buried in a churchyard in The Hague.


Sources:

Dutton, B. D. (n.d.). Benedict De Spinoza (1632—1677). Retrieved from             https://www.iep.utm.edu/spinoza/#H2
Nadler, S. (2016, July 04). Baruch Spinoza. Retrieved from             https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/#Bib

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