Baruch Spinoza Philosopher
- Gender: Male
- Citizenship: Dutch Republic
- Born: Nov 24, 1632
- Died: Feb 21, 1677
Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher. The breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until many years after his death. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and, arguably, the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. His magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes's mind-body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy's most important thinkers. In the Ethics, "Spinoza wrote the last indisputable Latin masterpiece, and one in which the refined conceptions of medieval philosophy are finally turned against themselves and destroyed entirely." Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said of all contemporary philosophers, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."
Spinoza's given name in different languages is Hebrew: ברוך ×©×¤×™× ×•×–×”„ Baruch Spinoza, Portuguese: Benedito or Bento de Espinosa and Latin: Benedictus de Spinoza; in all these languages, the given name means "the Blessed". Spinoza was raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam.
Whatsoever is contrary to nature is contrary to reason, and whatsoever is contrary to reason is absurd.
nature
He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason.
being alone
I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion.
religion
Ambition is the immoderate desire for power.
power
Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.
happiness
Those who are believed to be most abject and humble are usually most ambitious and envious.
jealousy
Do not weep do not wax indignant. Understand.
motivation
To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.
power & society
For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
peace & war
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.
learning
Only that thing is free which exists by the necessities of its own nature, and is determined in its actions by itself alone.
being alone & nature
Freedom is absolutely necessary for the progress in science and the liberal arts.
freedom & science
Nothing exists from whose nature some effect does not follow.
nature
Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.
peace, strength & war
There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.
fear & hope
Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
peace & war
All happiness or unhappiness solely depends upon the quality of the object to which we are attached by love.
happiness & love