This volume is distinctive in the range of topics it covers on Spinoza and in the way it systematically details Spinoza's influence on later philosophers and on philosophical movements

Collates essays from the world's leading specialists on Spinoza

Asserts boldly an interpretation of Spinoza as a radical rationalist deeply committed to the Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR)

As a philosopher who inspired Enlightenment thinking and who ushered in the age of rationalism, Spinoza's values are now more relevant than ever

Until recently, Spinoza's standing in Anglophone studies of philosophy has been relatively low and has only seemed to confirm Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi's assessment of him as "a dead dog." However, an exuberant outburst of excellent scholarship on Spinoza has of late come to dominate work on early modern philosophy. This resurgence is due in no small part to the recent revival of metaphysics in contemporary philosophy and to the increased appreciation of Spinoza's role as an unorthodox, pivotal figure—indeed, perhaps the pivotal figure—in the development of Enlightenment thinking.

Spinoza's penetrating articulation of his extreme rationalism makes him a demanding philosopher who offers deep and prescient challenges to all subsequent, inevitably less radical approaches to philosophy. While the twenty-six essays in this volume—by many of the world's leading Spinoza specialists—grapple directly with Spinoza's most important arguments, these essays also seek to identify and explain Spinoza's debts to previous philosophy, his influence on later philosophers, and his significance for contemporary philosophy and for humanity.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Abbreviations
1. Introduction Michael Della Rocca
2. The Virtues of Geometry Aaron Garrett
3. From Maimonides to Spinoza: Three Versions of an Intellectual Transition Kenneth Seeskin
4. Spinoza and Descartes Tad M. Schmaltz
5. The Building Blocks of Spinoza's Metaphysics: Substance, Attributes, and Modes Yitzhak Y. Melamed
6. But Why Was Spinoza a Necessitarian? Charlie Huenemann
7. The Principle of Sufficient Reason in Spinoza Martin Lin
8. Spinoza and the Philosophy of Science: Mathematics, Motion, and Being Eric Schliesser
9. Representation, Misrepresentation, and Error in Spinoza's Philosophy of Mind Don Garrett
10. Finite Subjects in the Ethics: Spinoza on Indexical Knowledge, the First Person and the Individuality of Human Minds Ursula Renz
11. Spinoza on Skepticism Dominik Perler
12. The Highest Good and Perfection in Spinoza John Carriero
13. Spinoza on Mind Olli Koistinen
14. The Intellectual Love of God Steven Nadler
15. The Metaphysics of Affects or the Unbearable Reality of Confusion Lilli Alanen
16. Spinoza's Unorthodox Metaphysics of the Will Karolina Hübner
17. Eternity Chantal Jaquet
18. Spinoza's Philosophy of Religion Carlos Fraenkel
19. Spinoza's Political Philosophy Michael A. Rosenthal
20. Leibniz's Encounter with Spinoza's Monism, October 1675 to February 1678 Mogens Laerke
21. Playing with Fire: Hume, Rationalism, and a Little Bit of Spinoza Michael Della Rocca
22. Kant and Spinoza Debating the Third Antinomy Omri Boehm
23. "Nothing Comes from Nothing": Judaism, the Orient, and Kabbalah in Hegel's Reception of Spinoza Paul Franks
24. Nietzsche and Spinoza: Enemy-BrothersYirmiyahu Yovel
25. Spinoza's Afterlife in Judaism and the Task of Modern Jewish Philosophy Michael L. Morgan
26. Spinoza's Relevance to Contemporary Metaphysics Samuel Newlands
27. Literary Spinoza Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Edited by Michael Della Rocca, Sterling Professor of Philosophy, Yale University

Michael Della Rocca is Sterling Professor of Philosophy at Yale University where he has taught since 1991. He is the author of Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza, Spinoza, The Parmenidean Ascent, and of numerous articles in contemporary metaphysics and early modern philosophy.

Contributors:

Lilli Alanen, Omri Boehm, John Carriero, Michael Della Rocca, Carlos Fraenkel, Paul Franks, Aaron Garrett, Don Garrett, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Karolina Hübner, Charlie Huenemann, Chantal Jaquet, Olli Koistinen, Mogens Laerke, Martin Lin, Yitzhak Y. Melamed, Michael L. Morgan, Steven Nadler, Samuel Newlands, Dominik Perler, Ursula Renz, Michael A. Rosenthal, Eric Schliesser, Tad M. Schmaltz, Kenneth Seeskin, and Yirmiyahu Yovel