Spinoza's religion : a new reading of the ethics / Clare Carlisle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carlisle, Clare, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677. Ethica.

Spinoza, Benedictus de.

Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677--Religion.

Ethica (Spinoza, Benedictus de).

Metaphysics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource 287 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2021]

Summary:

"Spinoza is widely regarded as either a God-forsaking atheist or a God-intoxicated pantheist, but Clare Carlisle says that he was neither. In Spinoza's Religion, she sets out a bold interpretation of Spinoza through a lucid new reading of his masterpiece, the Ethics. Putting the question of religion centre-stage but refusing to convert Spinozism to Christianity, Carlisle reveals that "being in God" unites Spinoza's metaphysics and ethics. Spinoza's Religion unfolds a powerful, inclusive philosophical vision for the modern age--one that is grounded in a profound questioning of how to live a joyful, fully human life. Like Spinoza himself, the Ethics doesn't fit into any ready-made religious category. But Carlisle shows how it wrestles with the question of religion in strikingly original ways, responding both critically and constructively to the diverse, broadly Christian context in which Spinoza lived and worked. Philosophy itself, as Spinoza practiced it, became a spiritual endeavor that expressed his devotion to a truthful, virtuous way of life. Offering startling new insights into Spinoza's famously enigmatic ideas about eternal life and the intellectual love of God, Carlisle uncovers a Spinozist religion that integrates self-knowledge, desire, practice, and embodied ethical life to reach toward our 'highest happiness'--to rest in God. Seen through Carlisle's eyes, the Ethics prompts us to rethink not only Spinoza but also religion itself."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Introduction: The Question of Religion

Chapter 1. Philosophy and Devotion

Chapter 2. What Is the Ethics?

Chapter 3. Being-in-God

Chapter 4. Whatever We Desire and Do

Chapter 5. Participating in Divine Nature

Chapter 6. Acquiescentia

Chapter 7. How to Love God

Chapter 8. Eternal Life

Chapter 9. Spinoza's Religion

Afterword: 'The path to these things'

Acknowledgements

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691224190

0691224196

OCLC:

1259322845