Spinoza in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) [Paperback]

Paul Strathern (Author)

Book Description

Series: Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series | Publication Date: November 1, 1998

“Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character....I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one’s friends to Western civilization.”—Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe. “Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them....I find them hard to stop reading.”—Richard Bernstein, New York Times. “Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise.”—Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal. These brief and enlightening explorations of our greatest thinkers bring their ideas to life in entertaining and accessible fashion. Philosophical thought is deciphered and made comprehensive and interesting to almost everyone. Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the philosopher and his work, authoritative and clearly presented.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Longtime readers of Paul Strathern's 90 Minutes books--pamphlets, really--know the drill: Strathern provides a minibiography of one of the world's great philosophers and an overview of his intellectual contributions, interspersed with Strathern's sometimes witty, sometimes merely sarcastic, comments about his subject's life and surroundings. His book on Spinoza, whose philosophy he considers "one of the finest ever produced," is no exception. Spinoza was an outcast in 17th-century Holland; as a Jew, he faced opposition from the Christians, and as a radical thinker who attacked not only the scientific but theological authority of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), he was shunned--excommunicated, even--by the Jewish community. Left to his own devices, he crafted a pantheistic philosophy based on the premise that God and the universe are one and the same, so that to harm others is ultimately to harm oneself. As Strathern writes, it has "a compelling beauty unequaled in the history of philosophy." (Although, in order to get to that level of brilliance, Spinoza had to write his share of clunkers, including one book that Strathern describes as "reducing Descartes' delightful and lucid style to a rubble of almost impenetrable mathematics.")

Review

Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them...I find them hard to stop reading. (Bernstein, Richard New York Times )

Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise. (Jim Holt Wall Street Journal )

Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character...I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization. (Katherine A. Powers Boston Globe )

A godsend in this era of the short attention span. (Daryl Royster Alexander New York Times )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 87 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566632153
• ISBN-13: 978-1566632157
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > History & Surveys
  • #57 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Modern

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars By "Spinoza in 90 Minutes" I understand:, June 26, 2003

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Spinoza in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)

I. Spinoza is a strange and interesting philosopher. His life sticks out in the history of philosophy. He not only philosophized, but he lived his philosophy. Q.E.D.

II. After an assassination attempt, Spinoza managed to get excommunicated from the Amsterdam synagogue in 1656. Q.E.D.

III. Spinoza turned down prestigious university posts and instead made his living grinding glass lenses. At the same time he composed a classic metaphysical system that he also applied to a political system. Q.E.D.

IV. Spinoza was one of the first philosophers to claim that the aim of the state is individual freedom. Q.E.D.

V. Though Spinoza's metaphysics belong to a different time, it is an example of how a theory of existence can be applied to a manner of living and being. Q.E.D.

VI. This book provides a good but very short introduction to the life and philosophy of one of the most interesting philosophers in the history books. Q.E.D.

VII. Spinoza managed to live a very humble life and still attain fame and recognition in his own time. He corresponded with Huygens, Newton, Leibniz, and other eminent people of the 17th century. Q.E.D.

VIII. Spinoza's works were so controversial they were either not published during his lifetime or published anonymously shortly after his death. Q.E.D.

IX. Spinoza's metaphysical system was based on pantheism, which posited that everything and everyone is God, so that if you hurt another you hurt yourself. There are corollaries to the modern Gaia hypothesis in this. Q.E.D.

X. This book will leave you wanting to know more about Spinoza and why he wrote in a strange numbered aphoristic manner. It can be read in a single reading and will acquaint you with Spinoza and why he is considered important. Q.E.D.

XI. Read this book, then move onto more thorough studies if it catches your interest. Q.E.D.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The philosopher who lived in accord with what he wrote, March 18, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Spinoza in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)

This is a very good short account of the life and work of the philosopher who according to Will Durant was the exception among the great philosophers in that ' he lived in accord with what he wrote'. Strathern tells the story of Spinoza's lonely struggle to be true to his vision of God and Nature. Strathern writes of the famous excommunication from the Portugese Jewish community, the humble life of the lens-grinder, the loyal friend ready to take on mobs to protest against the assassination of the politician DeWitt, the supreme rationalist seeing all ' with the eyes of Eternity.' Spinoza who maintained his meditation was the meditation of a free man and so' a meditation on life and not on death' had a pure vision of God as Nature as All-in- All. His appeal to Goethe and English Romanticism came in part from this. His God is All, and yet sublime and impersonal if not like Joyce's paring his fingernails, then certainly not like the Old Testament Hebrew God intervening to prevent Abraham from taking the life of his only beloved son. In other words the God of Spinoza is a God very much of the philosophers, and not one which Pascal a figure of comparable intellectual intensity and aesthetic greatness would have abided.
Strathern shows a clear admiration for his subject, and a respect for the subject- matter of his thought. He takes a few jabs, here and there at the great man but not in such a way as to diminish the feeling that we are dealing here one of Mankind's great thinkers.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick Review of History's greatest, March 19, 2007

By 

L. Fargher "distinguished realtor" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spinoza in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)

I picked up "Aquinas in 90 Minutes" in our Maui condo laundry room. It was so interesting that I now have St. Thomas Aquinas " Shorter Summa". I then had to have the same " 90 Minute" book for other "favorite philosophers".