Baruch Spinoza: Biography Of This Sephardic Philosopher And Thinker
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a modern philosopher, currently recognized as one of the main exponents of rationalism. Among his works, it stands out to problematize and provide a different understanding of nature in relation to divinity, as well as having discussed moral, political and religious concepts in an important way.
In the next article we will see the biography of Baruch Spinoza as well as a brief description of his main contributions to modern philosophy.
Biography of Baruch Spinoza: rationalist philosopher
Baruch Spinoza, originally called Benedictus (in Latin) or Bento de Spinoza (in Portuguese), was born on November 24, 1632 in Amsterdam. His parents were Jews who had emigrated to Spain and later to Portugal There they were forced to convert to Christianity, although they continued to practice Judaism in secret. After being arrested by the inquisition, they eventually fled to Amsterdam.
In this city, Baruch’s father developed as an important merchant and later as director of the city synagogue. For his part, Baruch Spinoza’s mother died when he was only six years old.
Before arriving in Amsterdam, Spinoza had already trained in institutes with a Roman Catholic focus. In the same period He was trained in Hebrew and Jewish philosophy Already in Amsterdam, at the age of 19, Spinoza worked as a small merchant, while continuing to study in schools with an Orthodox Jewish focus.
At this time, Spinoza He was especially interested in Cartesian philosophy, mathematics and the philosophy of Hobbes ; which led him to move further and further away from Judaism. Little by little he became very critical of the accuracy and interpretation of the Bible, especially regarding the idea of the immortality of the soul, the notion of transcendence and the laws dictated by God, as well as its connection to the Jewish community. The latter earned him excommunication.
In fact, it was in this period that Spinoza began changing his name from Hebrew to Latin, probably due to the possibility of reprisals and censorship. In fact, He refused to work as a professor at the University of Heidelberg because they asked him not to alter the current religious slogans.
Baruch Spinoza spent his last years in The Hague, where he died of tuberculosis on February 21, 1677, at the age of 44 and without having completed one of his last works, called a political treatise.
Ethics
One of the themes on which Spinoza’s work was focused was ethics. In fact, Ethical demonstrated according to the geometric order, is the name of his most representative work. In this, Spinoza discussed the traditional philosophical conception of God and the human being , about the universe and the moral beliefs underlying religion and theology. Among other things, the philosopher wanted to show that God really exists, as well as nature and ourselves.
Heir to Cartesian thought, which suggested the possibility of finding a rational and algebraic explanation for the existence of God, but also faithful to his Jewish, Stoic and scholastic training, Baruch maintained the existence of a single infinite substance.
The difference with Descartes’ thought is that, for Spinoza, this substance is unique (Descartes spoke of two), and can be equivalent to nature and at the same time to God. From there discusses the relationship between nature and the divine And since God is not caused by anything, that is, nothing precedes him, then he exists. Or in other words, God, as a unique and divine substance, is that which is conceived right there. This is one of the most representative ontological arguments about their existence in different works of modern rationalism.
Not only that, but Spinoza maintains that, consequently, the human mind can know either through thought, or through its extension. This takes Descartes as a model, but at the same time it poses a difference, since the latter said that knowledge was given only through thought, and that extension (nature) made reason err.
Spinoza maintains that there are three types of human knowledge : one derived from the slavery of the passions, another related to reason and consciousness of causes (whose value is the control of passions), and the third is disinterested intuition that is assimilated to the point of view of God. The latter is the only one capable of providing the only possible human happiness.
Political theology treatise
The Tractatus, a work that earned Spinoza significant recognition, combines biblical criticism, political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion with the development of metaphysics. Something that is represented in an important way is the distance and Spinoza’s criticism of the Bible
For Spinoza, the themes this book presents are riddled with inconsistencies that can be explained through the scientific study of language, history, and the beliefs of past times. For this reason it is believed that it is one of the works that also earned Spinoza excommunication.
Thus, Spinoza sets out to reveal the truth about scriptures and religion, and in this way sabotage or question the political power exercised in modern states by religious authorities. He also defends, at least as a political ideal, tolerant, secular and democratic politics. Among other things, Spinoza rejected the term and conceptions of morality, because he considers that they are only about ideals.
