Synopses & Reviews
Readers of Spinoza's philosophy have often been discouraged, as well as fascinated, by the geometrical method which he employs in his masterpiece Ethics. Aaron Garrett examines this method and suggests that Spinoza intended not only to make claims and propositions but also to transform readers by enabling them to view themselves and the world in a different way. This original and controversial book will be of interest to historians of philosophy.
Synopsis
This original and controversial book examines the geometrical method employed by Spinoza in his masterpiece the Ethics, and suggests that its purpose, in Spinoza's view, was not just to present claims and propositions but also to allow the readers to look at themselves and the world in a different way.
About the Author
Aaron Garrett is Assistant Professor at Boston University. He has contributed to a number of publications and is the editor of Francis Hutcheson, An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections (2002) and Animal Rights and Souls in the Eighteenth Century (2000).
Table of Contents
Introduction: 'in more geometrica' - Spinoza's geometrical method; 1. A worm in the blood: some central themes in Spinoza's Ethics; 2. A few further basic concepts; 3. Emendative therapy and the Tractatus de Emendatione Intellectus; 4. Method: analysis and synthesis; 5. Maimonides and Gersonides; 6. Definitions in Spinoza's Ethics: where they come from and what they are for; 7. The third kind of knowledge and 'our' eternity.