Think Least of Death (eBook)

Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die

Steven Nadler (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2020
248 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-20768-1 (ISBN)

Infos

From Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler, an engaging guide to what Spinoza can teach us about life's big questionsIn 1656, after being excommunicated from Amsterdam's Portuguese-Jewish community for "e;abominable heresies"e; and "e;monstrous deeds,"e; the young Baruch Spinoza abandoned his family's import business to dedicate his life to philosophy. He quickly became notorious across Europe for his views on God, the Bible, and miracles, as well as for his uncompromising defense of free thought. Yet the radicalism of Spinoza's views has long obscured that his primary reason for turning to philosophy was to answer one of humanity's most urgent questions: How can we lead a good life and enjoy happiness in a world without a providential God? In Think Least of Death, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler connects Spinoza's ideas with his life and times to offer a compelling account of how the philosopher can provide a guide to living one's best life.In the Ethics, Spinoza presents his vision of the ideal human being, the "e;free person"e; who, motivated by reason, lives a life of joy devoted to what is most important-improving oneself and others. Untroubled by passions such as hate, greed, and envy, free people treat others with benevolence, justice, and charity. Focusing on the rewards of goodness, they enjoy the pleasures of this world, but in moderation. "e;The free person thinks least of all of death,"e; Spinoza writes, "e;and his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life."e;An unmatched introduction to Spinoza's moral philosophy, Think Least of Death shows how his ideas still provide valuable insights about how to live today.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.9.2020
• Zusatzinfo: 1 b/w illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Erkenntnistheorie / Wissenschaftstheorie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Ethik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Metaphysik / Ontologie
• Schlagworte: affair • affection • Akrasia • Altruism • American Philosophical Association • Anger • Aristotle • Biography • British Journal for the History of Philosophy • cardinal virtues • Cartesian • Causality • Certainty • conatus • Concept • Consciousness • contentment • cowardice • David Hume • Depression (mood) • Descartes • Determination • Determinism • Disposition • divine law • Empirical Evidence • Enlightened self-interest • Epictetus • Equanimity • Ethical Egoism • ethics • Eudaimonia • euthanasia • Existence • Explanation • explanation of Spinoza’s thought • Feeling • Flourishing • freedom • Free Will • Generosity • God • Good and evil • Gratitude • guide to Spinoza’s ethics • heretical philosophers • heretical philosophy • heretical thinkers • heretical thought • Heretics • human body • Human nature • Human power • humility • Imagination • indulgence • intellectual virtue • interpretation of Spinoza’s Ethics • Introduction • Irrationality • Jewish intellectual tradition • Jewish philosophers • Jewish thought • kantian ethics • kindness • life and thought • love of God • Matter of fact • Morality • Multitude • narrative • Nobility • Obedience (human behavior) • Obligation • Omnipotence • phenomenon • Philosopher • Philosophy • piety • pity • Pleasure • possible world • Principle • Psychological egoism • quality of life • rational agent • rational egoism • Rationality • Reality • reason • Reinforcement • Relativism • sadness • Self-control • self-esteem • Self Help • Self-Interest • Self-preservation • short introduction to Spinoza’s Ethics • State of nature • Stoicism • Subjectivism • Sub specie aeternitatis • Suffering • Suicide • Teleology • Temperance (virtue) • terminal illness • The Life of Reason • Theological Political Treatise • Theological virtues • theory • The Philosopher • Thought • treatise • Understanding • understanding Spinoza’s Ethics • Universal law • virtue • Virtue Ethics • Wealth • well-being • Writing
• ISBN-10: 0-691-20768-2 / 0691207682
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-20768-1 / 9780691207681