SPINOZA: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED Continuum Guides for the Perplexed Adorno:A Guide for the Perplexed – Alex Thomson Deleuze:A Guide for the Perplexed – Claire Colebrook Existentialism:A Guide for the Perplexed – Stephen Earnshaw Gadamer:A Guide for the Perplexed – Chris Lawn Hobbes:A Guide for the Perplexed – Stephen J.Finn Husserl:A Guide for the Perplexed – Matheson Russell Kierkegaard:A Guide for the Perplexed – Clare Carlisle Levinas:A Guide for the Perplexed – B.C.Hutchens Merleau-Ponty:A Guide for the Perplexed – Eric Matthews Quine:A Guide for the Perplexed – Gary Kemp Rousseau:A Guide for the Perplexed – Matthew Simpson Sartre:A Guide for the Perplexed – Gary Cox Wittgenstein:A Guide for the Perplexed – Mark Addis SPINOZA: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED CHARLES E. JARRETT Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London SE1 7NX New York,NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Charles Jarrett 2007 All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced or trans- mitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical,including pho- tocopying,recording,or any information storage or retrieval system,without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Thanks are due to the following publishers for permission to reprint portions ofSamuel Shirley’s translations ofSpinoza’s works. Spinoza.Complete Works;translated by Samuel Shirley and others;edited, with introduction and notes,by Michael L.Morgan. Copyright © 2002 by Hackett Publishing Company,Inc. Reprinted by permission ofHackett Publishing Company,Inc.All rights reserved. Baruch Spinoza.Tractatus Theologico-Politicus,translated by Samuel Shirley. Copyright © 1989 by Koninklijke Brill NV Reprinted by permission ofKoninklijke Brill NV.All rights reserved. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-10: HB:0-8264-8595-2 PB:0-8264-8596-0 ISBN-13: HB:978-0-8264-8595-3 PB:978-0-8264-8596-0 Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jarrett,Charles E. Spinoza :a guide for the perplexed / Charles E.Jarrett p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13:978-0-8264-8595-3 ISBN-10:0-8264-8595-2 1.Spinoza,Benedictus de,1632–1677.I.Title. B3998.J37 2007 193–dc22 2006033963 Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd,Manchester Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd,Bodmin,Cornwall For Delrie and for Alex,Amy,and Julie This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Preface viii Abbreviations x Part I. Introduction 1. The Netherlands in the seventeenth century 3 2. Spinoza’s life and thought 9 3. The Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect 16 Part II. The Ethics 4. Introduction to the Ethics 31 5. The Ethics,Part I:God 35 6. The Ethics,Part II:Mind and knowledge 61 7. The Ethics,Part III:Emotions 95 8. The Ethics,Part IV:Ethics 119 9. The Ethics,Part V:The mind’s power and blessedness 155 Part III. The political works 10. The Tractatus Theologico-Politicus 177 11. The Tractatus Politicus 190 Postscript:A note on Spinoza’s influence 196 Notes 198 Bibliography 210 Index 221 vii PREFACE This work is an introduction to Spinoza’s philosophy.It is intended primarily for those with little or no prior knowledge of his philoso- phy or even of philosophy itself. As a ‘Guide for the Perplexed’, it is also designed as an aid for those who have begun to read Spinoza, but who have been unable to proceed very far. Some of the reasons for this difficulty will be discussed later in this work, as will the means by which I hope to dispel it. Readers who turn to Spinoza’s Ethics, but who have very little background in philosophy,may well be puzzled by unexplained ter- minology and references to metaphysics,epistemology,the ontolog- ical argument, or the problem of universals. This work therefore begins each chapter on the five parts of the Ethics (Chapters 5–9) with a very brief overview of the subject or topic under considera- tion.Each of these chapters also provides an informal statement of some of Spinoza’s main theses, a recommended order of readings, and a short discussion intended to clarify Spinoza’s major claims and some of his arguments.A brief comparison of Spinoza’s views with those of others and a discussion of disputed issues are also provided. Spinoza’s two political works are less highly structured than the Ethics and my presentation of them is correspondingly somewhat different. For each of these, I provide an introduction, a presenta- tion of Spinoza’s main claims,and a short discussion of some of the issues he raises. I have tried to bring out the major theses and themes of Spinoza’s philosophy without delving unnecessarily into the technical details ofhis arguments or proofs.It may be helpful to new readers to point viii PREFACE out that there is general agreement about many ofthe main elements of his philosophy. There are also, however, many disagreements about important doctrines. These include questions concerning what,precisely,Spinoza’s God or substance is,the relations between the human mind and body,the nature of his ethics,and his doctrine of the eternity of the intellect. Like others who have written introductions to Spinoza, I hope that this work will be ofsome interest not only to a general audience, but also to those with a special interest and background in Spinoza, philosophy, or the history of philosophy generally. For the most part, however, scholarly debates are avoided. Interpretations that differ from my own are noted,but only briefly discussed.References to more advanced scholarly discussions are also provided.1 ix