Description
Book SynopsisIn this short guide to a masterpiece of early modern philosophy, Michael LeBuffe leads readers through Spinoza's Ethics, focusing on one manageable part of the work's dense argument at a time and pausing frequently to raise questions for further research. This guide is designed to help readers to develop and defend their own sophisticated interpretations of Spinoza.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface: How to Use this Guide Abbreviations Introduction I. Working with the Geometrical Method II. Spinoza's Life III. Sources for the Ethics Chapter 1: One Infinite Substance 1.1 The Definitions and Axioms of Ethics 1 1.2 Existence: 1p1-1p15 1.3 The One and the Many: 1p16-1p36 1.4 Teleology and the Origin of Common Prejudice: Ethics 1 Appendix Chapter 2: The Idea of the Human Body 2.1 From Infinite Substance to Thought and Extension: 2d1-2p9c 2.2 The Human Mind and the Human Body: 2p10-2p18s 2.3 Inadequate Knowledge of the Self and the External World: 2p19-2p36 2.4 Genuine Knowledge: 2p37-2p49s Chapter 3: Desire, Joy, and Sadness 3.1 Human Activity and Passivity: 3 Preface-3p3 3.2 Striving to persevere in being and the Desire for Joy: 3p4-3p10 3.3 Passion, Desire, and Objects of Imagination: 3p11-3p50 3.4 Causation and Human Affects: 3p51-3p59 Chapter 4: Bondage to Passion 4.1 Formal accounts of good and evil: 4 Preface-4p8 4.2 Knowledge is power: 4p8-4p28 4.3 Human society: 4p29-4p37 4.4 Goods and evils: 4p38-4p73 Chapter 5: The Power of the Intellect 5.1 Descartes, Passions of the Soul, and the Pineal Gland: 5 Preface 5.2 Understanding and Imagination against the Passions: 5a1-5p10s 5.3 Self-Knowledge and the Love toward God: 5p11-5p20s 5.4 Eternity, Blessedness, and Salvation: 5p21-5p42s
