On the Improvement of the Understanding / The Ethics / Correspondence (v. 2) (Paperback)

by Benedict de Spinoza (Author), Benedictus de Spinoza (Author), R. H. M. Elwes (Translator)

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Product Description

Also contains Ethics, Correspondence, all in excellent R. Elwes translation. Basic works on entry to philosophy, pantheism, exchange of ideas with great contemporaries.

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Product Details Paperback: 420 pages Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1955) Language: English ISBN-10: 048620250X ISBN-13: 978-0486202501 Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,373,166 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover

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Citations (learn more)

100 books cite this book:

• The Possessed Individual: Technology and New French Theory (Culture Texts) by Arthur Kroker on 6 pages
• Spinoza and Deep Ecology: Challenging Traditional Approaches to Environmentalism (Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Philosophy) by Eccy De Jonge in Front Matter, page 84, and Back Matter
• Spinoza and Theory (The Bucknell Lectures in Literary Theory) by Christopher Norris in Front Matter, page 92, and page 98
• A Question of Values : Six Ways We Make the Personal Choices That Shape Our Lives by Hunter Lewis in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
• Philosophy of History by M.C. Lemon on page 114, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 100 books citing this book

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3 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Spinoza's ethics: a unique book, May 31, 2000 By  Emmanuel T. Rakitzis (Vrilissia Attikis Greece) - See all my reviews This is a well known and widely read book, ever since its first publication, in latin, in 1677. It is an extraordinary example of multum in parvo - much in little: it has earned for its author a first-class position in the history of philosophy. Benedictus de Spinoza (1632-1677) is unquestionably one of the world's greatest philosophers. In the Encyclopaedia Brittanica he is described as "author of one of the greatest metaphysical systems in the history of philosophy". Bertrand Russell in his History of Western Philosophy (available through Amazon) calls him "the noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers". Karl Jaspers, in his Introduction to Philosophy (again available through Amazon - Way to Wisdom) mentions that "Spinoza is the metaphysician who with traditional and Cartesian concepts expresses a philosophical faith. He is original in the metaphysical mood which he alone possessed among the philosophers of his time. Of the philosophers of his century he alone has followers today". Spinoza's importance in philosophy derives, I believe, from the following points: (i) Spinoza's metaphysical edifice rests almost entirely on reason. Reason (Spinoza tells us that "clear reason is infallible", The Ethics, Part I, Prop. XV) is, in his system, both the source of all knowledge, and also the means of clarifying and arranging all items of knowledge so obtained. (ii) Spinoza identifies God with Nature. Nature is given an all-encompassing, metaphysical meaning and is also called Substance ("Substantia sive Deus sive Natura", "Substance otherwise God otherwise Nature"). Accordingly, Spinoza belongs to the naturalist school of thought, along with most of the presocratic philosophers (Thales, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Parmenides, Democritus, Leucipus) and the stoic philosophers (Epicurus, Chrysiphus, Seneca, Lucretius). Nature is seen both as an active causal principle (natura naturans) and as the effect of said principle (natura naturata) (The Ethics, Part I, Prop. XXIX). (iii) Spinoza puts forward a logically coherent system of ethics. In fact, he chose so to name his main metaphysical work, and has added the subtitle: demonstrated in a geometrical manner ("Ethica, more geometrico demonstrata"). The Ethics is laid out in the form of definitions, axioms, propositions, demonstrations of said propositions, and scholia. In Spinoza's system ethical values are logically derived from first principles. So much so, that a moral life is identified as "a way of living under the guidance of reason" (The Ethics, Part IV, Prop. XLVI). The moral precepts arrived at, by a process of logical analysis, are as strict as moral precepts based on religious faith. (iv) Spinoza establishes a novel point of view in the age-old question of the existence of good and evil. Spinoza identifies good with knowledge, in particular with knowledge of God, and proceeds to deny the existence of evil. He explicitly states that "God has no knowledge of evil" (The Ethics, Part IV, Preface). Again, "The knowledge of evil is inadequate knowledge" (The Ethics, Part IV, Prop. LXIV). (v) Spinoza transcends logic itself in distinguishing three kinds of knowledge: (a) knowledge from hearsay, (b) knowledge arrived at by logical analysis, and (c) intuitive knowledge. By means of this "third kind of knowledge" we may experience an immediate, intuitive intimation of God ("cognitio Dei intuitiva", The Ethics, Part V, Prop. XXV). Accordingly, Spinoza is both a rationalist and a mystic. (vi) Spinoza's personal character and life was fully in accord with his teaching. He was always honest, truthful, and, in the words of B. Russell, "showed throughout his life a rare indifference to money. The few who knew him loved him, even if they disapproved of his principles". Spinoza's metaphysical system, far from being one-sided and simplistic, has been a constant source of inspiration and reappraisal to many thinkers. 5 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars A bit over my head, May 11, 2000 By A Customer I knew before reading this book that I liked Spinoza's philosophies on God and life, and I was looking forward to a more in depth study on his thoughts. This book, however, was not what I had in mind. The text was difficult to follow. It could be because it was published originally in 1883 and translated from Latin. For beginners, like myself, I wouldn't recommend it. For me, this book was too mathmatically formulated. Also, there were so many references throughout the book to other paragraphs that it was distracting. All in all, good ideas but not a fun read. 1 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Spinoza attempts the impossible, August 8, 2008 By  Geoff Puterbaugh (Chiang Mai, T. Suthep, A. Muang Thailand) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    This review is from: On the Improvement of the Understanding (Paperback) This is a very interesting little text, and brings a lot of Buddhism to mind. Spinoza declares himself unsatisfied with standard earthly rewards (fame, wealth, and sensual pleasure) and sets out to find something which is Absolutely True. It won't work, Baruch. The only division of human knowledge which seems to be capable of Absolute Truth is math. You can actually PROVE math with nothing but your ideas and a piece of paper. The attempt to make other branches of human knowledge Just Like Math has failed and always will fail. To put it in another way, outside of math, we poor humans have no certain knowledge. We may have knowledge that reaches 99.99% certainty ("The sun will rise tomorrow") but a nasty asteroid could destroy that in an instant. The nasty asteroid could never destroy "2+2=4." It's just not in the cards. As Karl Popper pointed out -- creating a true philosophical revolution in the process -- outside of math, we humans are left with our best guess. So Spinoza fails, and so will everyone else trying to do the same thing. But at least Spinoza had the excuse of ignorance, having died many years before Popper.		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 048620250X
• ISBN-13: 978-0486202501
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,373,166 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spinoza's ethics: a unique book, May 31, 2000

By	Emmanuel T. Rakitzis (Vrilissia Attikis Greece) - See all my reviews

This is a well known and widely read book, ever since its first publication, in latin, in 1677. It is an extraordinary example of multum in parvo - much in little: it has earned for its author a first-class position in the history of philosophy. Benedictus de Spinoza (1632-1677) is unquestionably one of the world's greatest philosophers. In the Encyclopaedia Brittanica he is described as "author of one of the greatest metaphysical systems in the history of philosophy". Bertrand Russell in his History of Western Philosophy (available through Amazon) calls him "the noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers". Karl Jaspers, in his Introduction to Philosophy (again available through Amazon - Way to Wisdom) mentions that "Spinoza is the metaphysician who with traditional and Cartesian concepts expresses a philosophical faith. He is original in the metaphysical mood which he alone possessed among the philosophers of his time. Of the philosophers of his century he alone has followers today". Spinoza's importance in philosophy derives, I believe, from the following points: (i) Spinoza's metaphysical edifice rests almost entirely on reason. Reason (Spinoza tells us that "clear reason is infallible", The Ethics, Part I, Prop. XV) is, in his system, both the source of all knowledge, and also the means of clarifying and arranging all items of knowledge so obtained. (ii) Spinoza identifies God with Nature. Nature is given an all-encompassing, metaphysical meaning and is also called Substance ("Substantia sive Deus sive Natura", "Substance otherwise God otherwise Nature"). Accordingly, Spinoza belongs to the naturalist school of thought, along with most of the presocratic philosophers (Thales, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Parmenides, Democritus, Leucipus) and the stoic philosophers (Epicurus, Chrysiphus, Seneca, Lucretius). Nature is seen both as an active causal principle (natura naturans) and as the effect of said principle (natura naturata) (The Ethics, Part I, Prop. XXIX). (iii) Spinoza puts forward a logically coherent system of ethics. In fact, he chose so to name his main metaphysical work, and has added the subtitle: demonstrated in a geometrical manner ("Ethica, more geometrico demonstrata"). The Ethics is laid out in the form of definitions, axioms, propositions, demonstrations of said propositions, and scholia. In Spinoza's system ethical values are logically derived from first principles. So much so, that a moral life is identified as "a way of living under the guidance of reason" (The Ethics, Part IV, Prop. XLVI). The moral precepts arrived at, by a process of logical analysis, are as strict as moral precepts based on religious faith. (iv) Spinoza establishes a novel point of view in the age-old question of the existence of good and evil. Spinoza identifies good with knowledge, in particular with knowledge of God, and proceeds to deny the existence of evil. He explicitly states that "God has no knowledge of evil" (The Ethics, Part IV, Preface). Again, "The knowledge of evil is inadequate knowledge" (The Ethics, Part IV, Prop. LXIV). (v) Spinoza transcends logic itself in distinguishing three kinds of knowledge: (a) knowledge from hearsay, (b) knowledge arrived at by logical analysis, and (c) intuitive knowledge. By means of this "third kind of knowledge" we may experience an immediate, intuitive intimation of God ("cognitio Dei intuitiva", The Ethics, Part V, Prop. XXV). Accordingly, Spinoza is both a rationalist and a mystic. (vi) Spinoza's personal character and life was fully in accord with his teaching. He was always honest, truthful, and, in the words of B. Russell, "showed throughout his life a rare indifference to money. The few who knew him loved him, even if they disapproved of his principles". Spinoza's metaphysical system, far from being one-sided and simplistic, has been a constant source of inspiration and reappraisal to many thinkers.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit over my head, May 11, 2000

By A Customer

I knew before reading this book that I liked Spinoza's philosophies on God and life, and I was looking forward to a more in depth study on his thoughts. This book, however, was not what I had in mind. The text was difficult to follow. It could be because it was published originally in 1883 and translated from Latin. For beginners, like myself, I wouldn't recommend it. For me, this book was too mathmatically formulated. Also, there were so many references throughout the book to other paragraphs that it was distracting. All in all, good ideas but not a fun read.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spinoza attempts the impossible, August 8, 2008

By	Geoff Puterbaugh (Chiang Mai, T. Suthep, A. Muang Thailand) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: On the Improvement of the Understanding (Paperback)

This is a very interesting little text, and brings a lot of Buddhism to mind. Spinoza declares himself unsatisfied with standard earthly rewards (fame, wealth, and sensual pleasure) and sets out to find something which is Absolutely True.

It won't work, Baruch.

The only division of human knowledge which seems to be capable of Absolute Truth is math. You can actually PROVE math with nothing but your ideas and a piece of paper.

The attempt to make other branches of human knowledge Just Like Math has failed and always will fail.

To put it in another way, outside of math, we poor humans have no certain knowledge. We may have knowledge that reaches 99.99% certainty ("The sun will rise tomorrow") but a nasty asteroid could destroy that in an instant. The nasty asteroid could never destroy "2+2=4." It's just not in the cards.

As Karl Popper pointed out -- creating a true philosophical revolution in the process -- outside of math, we humans are left with our best guess.

So Spinoza fails, and so will everyone else trying to do the same thing.

But at least Spinoza had the excuse of ignorance, having died many years before Popper.