Customer Reviews

The Essential Spinoza: Ethics And Related Writings

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For us Spinozists most one-volume compendia are welcome, and none more so than this one edited by Michael Morgan. Its contents include the Ethics in its entirety, the Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being (extracts), Principles of Cartesian Philosophy, Part I, and the Letters (selections). For its price I can't think of a better introductory text to Spinoza's profound system of thought. Highly recommended.

What's in a name? "The Essential Spinoza: Ethics and Related Writings" - it seems clear enough, but in the world of internet book-buying, things are not always as they seem.

There are in fact two books available through Amazon with this same title. One has been edited by two reputable academics, Morgan and Shirley, and contains an introduction and critical apparatus. The other is published by an outfit called Classic Books International, and is just the bare text - in a very unappealing typeface - that has all the looks of a copy-and-paste job, with the pasting done crooked onto the page most of the time.

There are editions of Spinoza available for half the price of this "Classic Books" effort. I spent the extra money thinking I would be getting an attractive and authoritative presentation of this great philosopher's work. Next time I'll be more circumspect about favourable reviews ending with "This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition."

In the meantime, this "Classic Book" is winging its way straight back to Amazon for refund.

A new book, with a good selection of Spinoza works. I think the book is a must reading if you are considering Spinosa as a theme for further and deeper studies or even if you need/want to have a general opinion about this important author.