Customer Reviews

Ethics (Penguin Classics)

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Ethics is a towering work by an absolute genius, a mathematical definitive explanation of G~d, the universe and man's place in it. Read it not because you think you must fight through `great philosophy', but for its beautiful symmetry of ground breaking rational thought. I eagerly recommend this work to anyone interested in exploring their thoughts on philosophy, religion and psychology. If anything, Ethics obtains renewed relevance in the post-modern 21st century and its unfolding events.

Imagine setting out as an objective to describe human existence and the "journey to inner freedom." To accomplishment that feat, we must first begin with G~d and the universe, then work our way through nature, religion, society, science, and evolution until we can frame the essence of man. Imagine then that we wish to make sense of the human paradox of violence, hate, love and passion, fear and hope, and give it a framework through which to view the world and gain serenity and purpose.

Imagine further that we do not wish to merely write yet another philosophical or Eastern spiritual text. We wish to supersede and encompass all these earlier attempts, including current thinking on Judeo Christian practice. While doing so, we shall set our bar high. We will extrapolate these beliefs and universal relationships as a geometric treatise in the manner of a mathematical proof, with definitions, axioms and propositions, and so demonstrate the possibility of reducing philosophy and the pursuit of human fulfillment to a scientific exercise.

Now imagine that we shall set out on our metaphysical journey during the Inquisition, when espousals contrary to the Church result in execution. Imagine that our thoughts are so revolutionary that even the heretics (mainly Protestants) and evolving philosophers with whom we must find safe harbor view our thoughts with alarm. Imagine ourselves cut off from public discourse, excommunicated from family and friends. Lastly, imagine we are frail and suffer from ill health, our views necessarily rendering us relatively penniless and unknown, hiding in modest obscurity. Now dear reader, we are ready to begin our book on the meaning of life despite the fact that we will never publish it for fear of death.

Most great thinkers name `Ethics' among their largest influences. Einstein espoused himself a Spinozan. It is certainly one of the most astounding and important books ever written.

His work changed my life. He not only filled in pieces of the puzzle I had missing, he rearranged them and gave them sense. I view almost all important constructs in life within his tautology. Please read Spinoza.

One last note: Readers may find one of the translations of his work more approachable. I plead with the reader not to allow the geometric treatise of his work to get in the way of accessing this most incredible accomplishment.

His astounding work is a testament to the blinding power of rational thought.

If you are misled into ordering the Kindle "format" of this book under the impression that it is the Penguin Classics edition with Curley's translation and notes and Hampshire's introduction, you are in for a disappointment. You get another translation entirely (apparently by Anon.), no notes, and no introduction. Yet the Kindle version is presented on the Amazon website as if it were the equivalent of the Penguin Classics edition.

It seems almost impertinent of me to review Spinoza's masterpiece. I would give it ten stars if I could.

In this age of theological chop-logic and political spin, Spinoza's Euclidean method of arguing for God-or-Nature as the self-causing, single, infinite substance conceived under infinite attributes (or aspects) of which we humans have knowledge only of two (thought and matter soars far above the heads of most contemporary academics and bewilders first year philosophy students, who are routinely advised to leave Spinoza well alone and settle down with Descartes instead. What a great deal they miss!

The book is in five parts: 1. Of God; 2. Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind; 3. Of the Origin and Nature of the Affects; 4.Of Human Bondage, or the Power of the Affects; 5. Of the Power of the Intellect, or On Human Freedom.

It is not easy reading, but studying it with an open mind will pay huge dividends.

Spinoza takes us step by logical step, from basic axioms via propositions, demonstrations and explanations, to a world view which inspired Einstein to formulate his theories of relativity, which started the romanticist movement, and which provided the foundations for modern existentialism.

Spinoza was excommunicated by the Catholic Church, booted out by the Quakers and expelled from the synagogue; he was cursed, reviled, and anathematized. Matthew Arnold begins his essay 'Spinoza and the Bible' with the full force of the rabbinic vehemence, "By the sentence of the angels, by the decree of the saints, we anathematize, cut off, curse, and execrate Baruch Spinoza...cursed be he by day, and cursed by night...the Lord pardon him never, the wrath and fury of the Lord burn upon this man.... The Lord blot out his name under heaven.... There shall no man speak to him, no man write to him, no man show him any kindness, no man stay under the same roof with him."

This cheap penguin edition is nicely produced with an attractive cover, though it's a pity the proof reader didn't spot that Spinoza's name is spelt `Spinza' on the copyright page.

Stuart Hampshire's introduction is very helpful, and Edwin Curley's translation is superb.

Basic Flying Instruction: A Comprehensive Introduction to Western Philosophy

Spinoza worked through his ideas using his mathematical background. He diligently recorded his postulates in a very studied order. Remember, he wrote this in the 1600's under trying circumstances.

Anyone can pick up the "Ethics" today, randomly open the book and find meaning on just about any topic. For example, I'm opening the book now, Page 132, the first thing I read in Italics is:

"Only insofar as men live according to the guidance of reason, must they always agree in nature."

At the top of that same page it says, "Peter has the idea of a thing he loves which is already possessed, whereas Paul has the idea of a thing he loves which is lost. That is why one is affected with joy and the other with sadness, and to that extent they are contrary to one another."

Spinoza teaches us to be moral without religion, but with a total belief in God. His view is that there is nothing that cannot be known. Try it, for this book will end up being well worn by you.

They have used the Penguin cover as an intentional means to dupe customers into buying this ebook, when it is actually your standard free public domain edition with no introduction or notes. Not only do I want my money back, but I think those sellers should be banned from Amazon.

Spinoza's Ethics is perhaps the first major response to the radical Cartesianism of his period. Although published posthumously (and considered a curiosity by many of Spinoza's closest friends), the Ethics quickly became the center of metaphysical and epistemological attention in Europe. Drawing from a constellation of axioms, Spinoza constructs an elaborate geometrical castle of metaphysical thinking. This beautiful work of inquiry effectively overturns much of Cartesian conceptions of causality and has effectively been canonized as the essential alternative to Kantian epistemology. Spinoza's thinking of substance, attributes, and modes, has remained an indispensable source of joy and bliss for major philosophers. This enticing and difficult text remains a major source of philosophical writing and debate. Curley's translation is still the best in English.

The bad reviews may seem intimidating, but in actuality most of them are complaining about the kindle versions. However the rest of the bad reviews are not even worth reading either because they are written by pretentious and arrogant reviewers who think they understand Spinoza's ethics but obviously do not or because the reviewers are intellectually lazy that it's doubtful that they read additional scholarly sources that explains Spinoza's Ethics. It's discouraging that this book gets three stars (I will admit that the kindle version isn't very good), simply because some intellectually half-ass reviewers hardly tried to understand the context of Spinoza's philosophy.

I cannot completely explain how complex and beautiful this book is, and I cannot explain it all in this review. Hence, I am compelled to simplify it the best way possible, and I understand if my review is a little bit too simplistic to some more intelligent and well-informed reviewers. However I will give a concise and general over-view of the contexts of the Ethics so that many reviewers reading this would avoid stupid mistakes the bad reviewers make.

The Ethics is written by a 17th century philosopher Spinoza who was actually critiquing the Arabic/Jewish Medieval thought on God (Transcendence), Cartesian Dualism (mind-body problem and three Substance), Aristotelian teleology (final cause), self-righteous calvanistic moralism (pleasure and sex is bad), anthropomorphism of God (God is a jealous sky father who loves us), and superstition, etc. None of these criticisms are that explicit, but if you read scholars such as Wolfson, James Collins, Steven B. Smith, H.E. Allison, and many other memorable ones, you'll find out that Spinoza assumed that his contemporary educated audiences from the 17th century will know what he is talking about, since they were also dealing with similar context. Spinoza, however, was not only criticizing these philosophical and theological traditions, he also constructed a metaphysical system to solve the problems he sees in these traditions, and he also constructed it with therapeutic purposes: That is to exercise our Understanding to understand our passions (in terms of their cause) so we can form adequate ideas of them so we can become adequate causes (cause that derives from our understanding). Consequently, we form an intuitive knowledge that allows us to understand all things through the essence of God from the perspective of Eternity; supposedly this is an intellectual love for God which frees people from their bondage.

Consequently you have the Ethics, the most beautiful system brilliantly and elaborately created by a genius who believed that there is only One Substance with infinite attributes (two of which are thought and extension) and all modes participate in those two attributes. It seems like a daunting yet arbitrary belief, but it only seems so if you never read where Spinoza came from. Spinoza's Ethics is suppose to be a criticism and solution to the problems of the philosophical notion of God, free-will vs. determinism , morality, mind-body, etc. You should certainly try to understand them, but as to whether you accept the solutions and criticisms that Spinoza provided is really for you to decide.

The $.99 Kindle edition offered under the Penguin cover, translator and introduction by prominant philosopher, Stuart Hampshire is NOT the Curley translation, and it does not have the Hampshire introduction or Curley annotations. It is the Elwes translation. However, it is not the same edition of the Elwes translation offered for free a few editions down. It has a short biography of Spinoza which the free edition does not have. It also has a more complete Table of Contents. I suspect this is not the first time Amazon has exploited such ambiguities in marketing Kindle editions. The fact that it costs but a dollar is a small compensation. Whether this is outright fraud, you would need a lawyer to tell. It is certainly misleading.

Spinosa, a Jew from Portugal, converted to Christianity in
Holland, wrote this important philosophical work in a
manner very different than his contemporaries. He bases
his arguments in the style of geometric logical proofs.
Difficult but worthwhile.

This is not the Curley translation - as you would expect from the cover image - but rather the Elwes. Very disappointing.