Necessarily Eternal

... this something that pertains to the essence of the mind will necessarily be eternal ... *

Welcome. If this is your first visit, please read the Introduction before you continue. For recent additions to the links under the Journal Articles and Book Reviews sections on top left corner of this site, please check the Update Log. This post shall be considered dateless and will always stay at the top.

* Ethics Vp23dem (Curley translation)

Remember to check THE EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY CALENDAR for Spinoza-related events.

perigord at ufl dot edu

Last Update on Upcoming International Conference "Galileo and Spinoza"

Download Colloque - Galileo and Spinoza for details, and please feel free to contact Filip Buyse, Université de Paris 1 - Sorbonne (filip.buyse1@telenet.be) for further information or visit Centre de recherche sur l'Histoire des Systèmes de Pensée Moderne.

New Article: "Spinoza's Epistemology"

Jason Nels Dockstader (Western Ontario) writes the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy article.

Update on Upcoming International Conference "Galileo and Spinoza"

Download Galileo and Spinoza for details, as posted below plus the portraits. Please feel free to contact Filip Buyse, Université de Paris 1 - Sorbonne (filip.buyse1@telenet.be) for further information.

International Conference  “Galileo and Spinoza”

(December 12 & 19, 2009, Sorbonne, Paris)

 

Location ?      Université de Paris 1 –  Sorbonne;  17, Rue de la Sorbonne;  75231 Paris.

Organiser?   Filip Buyse (CHSPM, Université  Paris 1- Sorbonne)

When ?    December  12 & 19, 2009

Room ?    Salle Cavaillès, Escalier C, 1er étage

Language ?  French/English

More info ?   filip.buyse1@telenet.be

Entrance:   free ( all are welcome !)

Saturday  December 12

8:45 – 9:15 :   Introduction   (Filip Buyse, Université Paris 1 - Sorbonne)

9:15 –  10:30 :  Mechanics versus mechanism:   Galileo,  Spinoza, and Newton.

(Stephen Gaukroger, University of Sydney)

10:30 – 11:30 : Boyle, Spinoza and Galileo:  Is  Spinoza  a strict Mechanical Philosopher ?

(Filip Buyse, Université de Paris 1-Sorbonne)

11:30 – 12:30 :  Science, Demonstration and the Art of Hermeneutics in Spinoza and Galileo.

(Tamar Rudavsky, Ohio State University)

Break

14: 30 - 15:30 :   Joseph Solomon Delmedigo:  Student of Galileo and Teacher of Spinoza.

(Jacob Adler, University of Arkansas)

15:30 – 16:30 :    Spinoza critique de Galilée.

(Pietro  Redondi, Università di Milano-Bicocca )

16:30 – 17:30:   Natura  naturans and Natura naturata in Spinoza.

(Herman De Dijn,  Harvard University  +  Prof. Em. of  the  KU Leuven)

17:30 – 18:00:  Questions and discussion.

Saturday  December 19 

9:30 -  10:00 :  Introduction  (Filip Buyse, Université  Paris 1 - Sorbonne)

10:00 -  11:00 :    Galileo and Spinoza:  Historical and Theoretical Perspectives.

(Franco Biasutti, University of Padua)

11:00 – 12:00 :  Spinoza's Library:  its  Mathematical and Scientific Books.

(Henri Krop,  University  of Rotterdam)

Break

13:30 – 14:30:   L'infini chez  Spinoza et Galilée.

(Epameinondas Vampoulis, University of Patras)

14:30 – 15:30:   Spinoza, l'unité individuelle et le principe du mouvement relatif.

(Fabien Chareix , Université  Paris IV- Sorbonne)

15:30 – 16:30:    From Italy to The Hague: optics and optical instruments.

(Rienk Vermij,  University of Oklahoma).

16:30 – 17:00:  Discussion and questions.

(Theo Verbeek,  The Utrecht University)

 

Contact:  Filip Buyse,  Université de Paris 1- Sorbonne  ( filip.buyse1@telenet.be)

Todd Ryan on Bayle on Spinoza

Prof. Thomas M. Lennon (Western Ontario) reviews Prof. Todd Ryan's (Trinity College) Pierre Bayle's Cartesian Metaphysics: Rediscovering Early Modern Philosophy.

The pertinent excerpt:

The chapter on Spinoza is of particular interest. The article on Spinoza in Bayle's Dictionary is longest of all, and it is clear that Spinoza held a unique fascination for him, even to the point of serving as an alter ego. Even so, Bayle is unrelentingly critical of Spinoza's metaphysics, especially of what he called the "abominable hypothesis" that there is but one substance, which is God. Bayle's actual arguments against this pantheistic substance monism have not been taken very seriously by commentators, however, and a great virtue of Ryan's book is to demonstrate that "Bayle's reading of Book I of the Ethics shows a good deal more subtlety than has been commonly allowed" (p.136).

Ryan distinguishes five objections in Bayle's treatment of Spinoza: (1) the argument from compositeness of extension: substance monism is incompatible with substance having extension as an attribute, which consists of real parts, which are beings per se and as such substances themselves; (2) the argument from incompatible properties that the single substance would have; (3) the argument from mutability that follows from the separability of the parts of extension; (4) the argument from the identity of attributes based on the real identity of attributes with substance; (5) the argument from divine goodness that God as the only subject of predication would be the author of evil, would struggle against himself, etc.

Upcoming International Conference: "Galileo and Spinoza"

CENTRE DE RECHERCHE SUR L'HISTOIRE DES SYSTÈMES DE PENSÉE MODERNES (CHSPM)
Université Paris 1 - Sorbonne, Paris, France

Location ? Université Paris 1 – Sorbonne; 17, Rue de la Sorbonne; 75005 Paris.
Organiser? Filip Buyse (CHSPM, Université Paris 1- Sorbonne)
When ? December 11 & 12, 2009
Language ? French/English
More info ? filip.buyse1@telenet.be
Entrance: free ( all are welcome !)

Friday December 11

9:00 – 9:30 : Introduction (F. Buyse , organiser, Université Paris 1 - Sorbonne)
9:30 – 10:30 : La bibliothèque de Spinoza (Henri Krop, University of Rotterdam)
10:30 – 10:45: Break
10:45 – 11:45 : Joseph Solomon Delmedigo: Student of Galileo and Teacher of Spinoza (Jacob Adler, University of Arkansas)
11:45 – 12:45 : Science, Demonstration and the Art of Hermeneutics in Spinoza and Galileo. (Tamar Rudavsky, Ohio State University)
12:45 – 14:15 : Lunch
14:15 – 15:15 :Galileo and Spinoza: Historical and Theoretical perspectives . (Franco Biasutti, University of Padua)
15:15 – 15:30: Break
15:30 – 16:30 : Spinoza critique Galilée, ou le concordisme en question. (Pietro Redondi, Università di Milano-Bicocca )
16:30 – 17:30: Natura naturans and Natura naturata in Spinoza. (Herman De Dijn, Harvard University + Prof. Em. of the KU Leuven)
17:30 – 18:00 : Discussion and questions (Theo Verbeek, The Utrecht University)

Saturday December 12

9:00 -9:15 : Introduction (F. Buyse, organiser, Université Paris 1 - Sorbonne)
9:15 – 10:45 : Mechanics versus mechanism: Galileo, Spinoza, and Newton. (Stephen Gaukroger, University of Sydney)
10:45 – 11:00 : Break
11:00 – 12:00 : Boyle, Spinoza and Galileo: Is Spinoza a strict Mechanical Philosopher ? (Filip Buyse, Université de Paris 1-Sorbonne)
12:00 – 13:30 : Lunch
13:30 – 14:30: Le concept de l’infini chez Spinoza et Galilée (E. Vampoulis, University of Patras)
14:30 – 15:30: Titre à préciser (Fabien Chareix , Université Paris IV- Sorbonne)
15:30 – 15:45: Break
15:45 – 16:45: Spinoza and optics. (Graham Burnett, Princeton + Kevin Von Duuglas Ittu + James A. Schulz)
16:45– 17:45 : Discussion and questions (Theo Verbeek, The Utrecht University)
17:45 – 18:00: Conclusion (Filip Buyse)

Contact: Filip Buyse, Université de Paris 1- Sorbonne
(filip.buyse1@telenet.be)

Conference: "Thinking with Spinoza: Politics, Philosophy and Religion"

The Birkbeck College, London, info site also has the link to podcasts of the conference (May 7-8, 2009).

Spinoza Research Network

About Spinoza Research Network:

A two-year project funded by the AHRC and hosted at the University of Dundee

October 2008 - September 2010

The aim of the Spinoza Research Network is to bring together researchers from different disciplines who make use of the ideas and texts of Baruch Spinoza. During the two-year project we will be holding two conferences, and developing this website as a hub for researchers, students, and interested readers.

"Spinoza's Political Philosophy"

Prof. Jari Niemi (Florida Atlantic) is the author of this Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry.

Jonathan Bennett's EarlyModernTexts.com Reviewed

Prof. John Immerwahr (Villanova) reviews Prof. Jonathan Bennett's "labor of love" in Teaching Philosophy 31:3, September 2008.

Spinoza Exhibition in Amsterdam Last June

An excerpt from the site:

Libertas philosophandi. Spinoza als gids voor een vrije wereld, centring on the life of Spinoza and the reception of his work in the seventeenth century. More than half of the books in the exhibition, and certainly all of Spinoza’s own works, were printed in Amsterdam. The exhibition will also feature a selection of (engraved) portraits of Spinoza.

The exhibition focusses on the works of Spinoza, those of his friends and foes, partly from the library’s own holdings, although the exhibition also gratefully relies on loans from institutions and private collectors in the Netherlands and abroad. Books printed in Amsterdam will be an important feature in the exhibition: Amsterdam was rightfully regarded as a haven where works could be printed that were prohibited elsewhere. The title of the exhibition, Libertas philosophandi, the freedom to philosophize, expresses one of Spinoza’s profoundest convictions. To him the freedom of thought was boundless, although individual dignity should not be compromised. Spinoza’s radical ideas were vehemently opposed by the theologians of his days. His plea was one for freedom of thought and philosophy (also with regard to religion and its relationship to politics) which could contribute to true democracy, according to him the optimal form of government. Spinoza’s philosophy is still relevant today.

Do check out the event pictures and the exhibition guide which has, among other things, pictures of houses where Spinoza lived.

Spinoza in "Historia Philosophica"

The 2008 edition of Historia Philosophica has Spinoza as its main theme. Many thanks to Mr. Filip Buyse who brought my attention to this, and whose article is also featured in the journal.

"Spinoza" (Routledge Philosophers) Reviewed

Prof. Michael LeBuffe (Texas A&M) reviews Della Rocca's Spinoza.

"Locke's Disguised Spinozism"

The most recent work of Prof. Wim Klever (Rotterdam) is now available at this new Spinoza site. For more of Prof. Klever's and others' writings (mostly in Dutch), do check its secondary literature section.

New Article: "Spinoza's Theory of Attributes"

Noa Shein (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) is the author of this new SEP article.

Brazilian Spinoza Site

This very neat site also includes Revista Conatus, a journal on Spinoza's philosophy with articles written mostly in Portuguese and a few in English.

"Spinoza contra Kant"

Many thanks to Barrett Pashak for alerting me to this work of Constantin Brunner. Mr. Pashak is also the English editor of the work and the owner of the site linked above.

The Late Arne Naess, Deep Ecology, and Spinoza

The NYT has an obituary of Prof. Arne Naess and the University of Oslo has his academic site. Also, a review on a fairly recent work critical of Deep Ecology.

"Spinoza's Immanence"

This essay by Prof. Lars Tønder (Political Science, Northwestern) is but one of the many others reacting to Prof. Charles Taylor's A Secular Age.

Papineau Reviews "Looking for Spinoza"

The review article is over five years old, but it is still worth reading.

Franciscus van den Enden

Former Jesuit, Neo-Latin Poet, Physician, Art Dealer, Philosopher, Teacher of Spinoza and Conspirator against Louis XIV

Two New Works by Wim Klever

From an email sent by Prof. Emeritus Wim Klever (Rotterdam):

This time I also wish to inform you and to ask you to forward this information about a new publication of mine about Spinoza's master Franciscus van den Enden, a book that I published privately and may be acquired via my e-mail. See attachment*. Concerning the last item mentioned at the bottom of the page [in a different email], I can now say, that a Dutch version of this manuscript has now appeared under the title John Locke (1632-1704). Vermomde en miskende Spinozist. Rapport van historisch onderzoek (2008). The English version under the title Locke's Disguised Spinozism will before long appear as a journal article. I hope that you will find a way to communicate this 'news' to the audience of your site, the friends of Spinoza. Many of my former articles are contained in books or journals you mention.

More information can be found here (in Dutch), and Prof. Klever can be reached at klever at casema dot nl.

* Download Attachment

"Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy"

Prof. Simo Knuuttila (Theological Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, Helsinki) is the author of the 2006 book. The Medieval Review has an article on it.

New Book: Michael Della Rocca's "Spinoza"

About this latest of Prof. Michael Della Rocca's (Yale) works on Spinoza:

Beginning with an overview of Spinoza's life, Della Rocca carefully unpacks and explains Spinoza's philosophy: his metaphysics of substance and argument at the center of his whole system that God is the sole independent substance; Spinoza's account of the human mind and its relation to the body; his theory that human beings tend towards self-preservation and the role of the emotions; his most famous work, the Ethics, including the problem of free will; and his writings on the state, religion and scripture. Della Rocca concludes with a chapter on Spinoza's legacy and how modern philosophers, Hume, Hegel, and Nietzsche, responded to Spinoza's challenge.

The Early Modern Philosophy Calendar

About the site:

This website is maintained by Stephen H. Daniel at Texas A&M University as a service to scholars working in the history of early modern philosophy. It brings together information about calls for papers, event schedules, and contacts about presentations, conferences, and seminars dealing with research in late 16th, 17th, and 18th century philosophy.

Do check the site to find out about upcoming Spinoza conferences. A link to the site has also been added under Other Online Sources section on the left column.

Intellectual Context of Early Modern Philosophy As Found in Primary Sources

Published ten years ago, I have found Descartes' Meditations: Background Source Materials very useful when attempting to make more sense of the intellectual context in works of not just Descartes but Spinoza and other major early modern philosophers as well. Translators of this collection of primary sources are Roger Ariew (South Florida), John Cottingham (Reading), and Tom Sorell (Birmingham). Marjorie Grene (Virginia Tech) co-translated one of the selections as well.