Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza [Hardcover]

Margaret Gullan-Whur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2000

The compelling biography of one of the most brilliant and controversial thinkers in Western historyBaruch or Benedictus de Spinoza (1632-1677) is considered one of the greatest Western thinkers and certainly the most rigorous of the Rationalist philosophers.Born of Jewish immigrants escaping the Spanish Inquisition, he was expelled from the Jewish community of Amsterdam for "horrendous heresies" in 1656.He came to be reviled by all religious authorities for claiming that humans were parts of a unified nature, that God was identical with nature, and that reason-not revelation-supplied the truth of any aspect of God, or Nature.Undeterred, Spinoza made this thesis the basis for a rational crusade against superstition and prejudice.This highly informative biography shows how Spinoza's central beliefs developed within the context of his own life in Dutch society.Drawing on very recent scholarly research and making detailed reference to primary sources, some not previously explored, author Gullan-Whur focuses on the philosopher's attempt to act solely through reason in the face of turbulent personal and national circumstances.Margaret Gullan-Whur debunks the myth of the philosopher as a lofty ascetic and exposes the emotional and sexual vulnerability behind Spinoza's misogynist tendencies.Within Reason offers a fresh, new and compelling look at the most important Rationalist and shows his living philosophical experiment to be sharply relevant today.AUTHORBIO: Margaret Gullan-Whur gained a first-class degree in philosophy and critical theory of literature from the University of East Anglia, and a doctorate in the philosophy of Spinoza from University College London.Cover paintings: Portrait of Spinoza, Dutch School, second half of the 17th century, reproduced courtesy of Haags Historisch Museum, The Hague; detail from The Dam with the New Town Hall under Construction by Johannes Lingelbach reproduced by courtesy of Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Amsterdam.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You would be hard put to find a better, more thorough, more thoughtful biography of Spinoza than this work by Margaret Gullan-Whur. With a precision and logical progression appropriate for such a man of reason, Gullan-Whur inspects all that is known of Spinoza's life, community, and times, fleshing out what made the individual as well as the philosopher, and comparing the concepts of Spinoza's treatises to how he led his life. Though not necessarily an easy read--you need to concentrate to take in all that Gullan-Whur offers--the narrative is riveting.

Gullan-Whur paints a detailed picture of 17th-century Dutch life, from the smoky peat fires used to combat the North Sea chill to the omnipresent tobacco smoke, which was believed to have great medicinal value. She discusses the history of Spanish and Portuguese Jews (marranos) in Amsterdam, the extent to which the marranos assimilated into Dutch culture, and ways in which marrano values may have affected Spinoza. She further describes what is known of Spinoza's family, such as the death of his mother when he was 6 and his father's standing in the Jewish and Dutch communities, and explores the origins of Spinoza's evident misogyny.

Whether you're a Spinoza enthusiast, an informed critic, or are ignorant of all things Spinozan, the results of Gullan-Whur's research and analysis are fascinating, vividly depicting an era, a place, and a man whose theories did not always manifest themselves in his daily practices--despite his great impatience with pretence and false acts of piety. He was an intellectual rebel and did not suffer fools lightly, he treated dogma and hypocrisy with insolence and sarcasm, and he spurned irrational emotion. He alienated the rabbis, and they declared him a heretic. He rejected the lucrative merchant career he'd have inherited from his father and supported himself by grinding lenses. And although he stressed the importance of one's physical and spiritual health--through food, entertainment, and sensual delights--he neglected himself in such matters and died, alone and disheartened, at the age of 45.

Despite the inconsistencies that Spinoza was subject to, his treatises on ethics and the power of reason were born of an alienation and grief not uncommon in our own fragmented society. It is as timely now to study Spinoza's philosophies as it ever was, and thanks to Gullan-Whur's excellent biography, it's also possible to gain some insight into the man who conceived them. --Stephanie Gold

From Publishers Weekly

In defiance of Spinoza's 17th-century rationalism, which taught that all knowledge follows with mathematical precision from universal ideas of reason, Gullan-Whur attempts to locate the origins of Spinoza's thought in his largely undocumented personal and psychological life. Her chief sources are the philosopher's writings, mainly the Theologico-Political Treatise and Ethics, and his extant correspondence. Out of this biographically unpromising fare, she constructs a portrait of a man divided between need for love and solitude, sexual feeling and self-discipline, reasoned and mystical approaches to God. Her method is to judiciously juxtapose quotations from Spinoza's works with descriptions of his social setting, his friends and the historic events of his time, to suggest the impact of these on his thought. Unlike Steven Nadler, whose recent biography (Spinoza, 1999) is more accessibly written, Gullan-Whur devotes special attention to Spinoza's disparaging remarks about women, locating them in the unequal sex roles prescribed by 17th-century Dutch Jewish society. Embedded within her dense arguments about Spinoza's personality (which was, she says, mainly arrogant and ascetic), are helpful insights into his thought, such as his unusual view of self-propelled motion. Though, at their best, these extrapolations of personality, feeling and mood resemble a Henry James novel, they also convincingly reveal Gullan-Whur's impressive gifts as an interpreter of texts. It's less clear, however, that they reveal truths about Spinoza's character. Photos not seen by PW. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 398 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st Ed. (U.S.) edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312253583
• ISBN-13: 978-0312253585
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,817,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice try, no cigar., November 10, 2000

By 

Mark Scroggins (Boca Raton, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza (Hardcover)

Poor Margaret Gullan-Whur. Clearly, she worked on this biography of Spinoza for some years, even going to the trouble of teaching herself Dutch to research the seventeenth-century Jewish philosopher's life. And then, just as it's finally published, Cambridge University Press brings out Stephen Nadler's *Spinoza: A Life*, a book that in its dispassionate tone, its even-handed treatment of potentially scandalous subjects, and in its deep and thoughtful treatment of Spinoza's Jewish milieu, puts *Within Reason* very deeply into the shadows. It's hard to write about a philosopher who died over 300 years ago, and left almost nothing in the way of scandals or love letters. Gullan-Whur compensates by inventing a homoerotic relationship between Spinoza and a Dutch student (along the way showing her complete ignorance of the reams of scholarly work done in recent years on issues of Renaissance sexuality); by teasing out at great length the issues involved in Spinoza's "excommunication" by the Amsterdam synagogue (along the way showing her complete ignorance of Judaism in general--the "oral law" is NOT, repeat NOT, to be confused with the kaballah); and by generally wearing on her sleeve her manifest dislike for Spinoza as a person. The only thing that saves the book is its fairly lively writing, and some vivid pictures of seventeenth-century Amsterdam. Otherwise, it's a historical novel. Read Nadler, if you want to know anything about the philosopher Spinoza. If you want to learn about Margaret Gullan-Whur, read this.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor style, pre-conceived ideas and no insight, September 30, 2003

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza (Hardcover)

Nothing invalidates an historical study more than the imposition of modern values on earlier times. Such an approach misleads the reader and misrepresents the subject. No amount of footnoting and references can redeem a book that applies this century's "political correctness" to attitudes of three hundred years ago. This work is a classic case of the faults of an "a priori" approach to history and philosophy. Gullan-Whur is self-deluded, confused both about Spinoza's life and his thinking, and sadly lacking in historical sense. Gullan-Whur's book makes meagre contribution to the recent studies of Spinoza's life and philosophy.

The chronological narrative would be a redeeming feature of this book, except that Spinoza's wanderings defy detailed analysis. This isn't Gullan-Whur's fault, but her struggles to locate him physically are on a par with her comprehension of his philosophy. Spinoza, in line with many thinkers of his day, adopted various nom de plumes in his dealings with others. A Jew of Portuguese ancestry living in the Dutch Republic made communication difficult. Gullan-Whur traces his attempts to learn Dutch, Latin, and even a smattering of English. Latin, however, remained the international language. This situation meant that in a given day several languages might be needed according to circumstances. Gullan-Whur blithely ignores this aspect of language and applies one of his various identities according to when and where she's describing his activities. Her variations in Spinoza's names are compounded by her exasperating habit of referring to many of his contemporaries by their given names.

Within a dozen pages, Gullan-Whur launches into a diatribe on the condition of women in the 17th Century Dutch Republic. A short comment would be understandable, but she returns to this theme throughout the book. At one point she accuses Spinoza of being both "arrogant" and "misogynist". As a final thrust, she entertains the notion that Spinoza's solitary life indicates a propensity to homosexuality. As final point, she abhors his affection for pipe smoking.

Gullan-Whur's attempt to deal with Spinoza's philosophy is little short of catastrophic. She trolls his writings to substantiate her pre-conceived notions. Using the material like a condiment, she sprinkles quotations from his writings throughout the text. These must be constantly referenced in the Notes to determine the source. The validity of the statements she attributes to him must be assumed. In most cases she imputes the citation to some early period in his life, implying that all his ideas were fixed at an early age. Development of ideas is apparently alien to her. The result is a goulash which the reader must reverse-engineer to derive some logical progression of thought. Given the breadth of Spinoza's ideas, her approach invalidates much of his thinking. This book has no place in early Enlightenment studies. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of a Novel Than a Biography, November 4, 2001

By 

Edward Garea "Edward Garea" (Branchville, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza (Hardcover)

Margaret Gullan-Whur is a victim of bad timing. A Spinoza scholar, she released her book around the same time as Steven Nadler's excellent biography of Spinoza. Spinoza poses large problems for any biographer, for the vast majority of his life was "lived" in the public sphere. Letters from friends and intimates were destroyed. Whereas Nadler presents a straightforward biography heavy on philosophical analysis, Gullan-Whur, by contrast, attempts a psycho-biography of Spinoza, attempting to fill in the gaps in his life with speculation concerning his philosophical works, particularly the "Ethics." She tries to tie in the philosophical chapters, especially those on sexual desire, with speculation about Spinoza's life.

At times, when solid facts are there, her speculation is strong . . . but at other times, we are led down the road of fantasy, as in her specualtions on pp. 142-43 of a homosexual relationship between Spinoza and a Dutch student. And having made the speculation, she wonders what we are to think of it before wavering as to its veracity concerning Spinoza, citing a recent Dutch novel about Spinoza being homosexual. How can we be sure when she admits she isn't even sure. Who is the biographer here and who is the reader?

When dealing in the world of facts, Gullan-Whur is strong, evincing a strong, imaginative writing style. The first two chapters of her book are a joy to read. However, when dealing with the restrictions of biography, she comes off a distant second to Nadler. It would have been far better, given her fluid, imaginative writing style, to have penned a philosophical novel about the life of Spinoza. There she could have speculated to her heart's content.