Baruch Spinoza 
ÉTHICS: Spinoza 

Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher, one of the great rationalists and philosophers of the 17th century within the so-called Modern Philosophy, alongside René Descartes and Gottfried Leibniz. Spinoza believed that God was the mechanism that moved the Universe, and that the biblical texts were nothing more than symbols that dispense with any rational approach. According to his view, the texts contained therein do not translate the reality that involves the Creator and his creation. In the Protestant society that dominated the Netherlands, there was no room for such heretical thinking; therefore, the Jewish leaders, received with clemency by these religious figures, could not tolerate an attitude that went against the very foundations of Christianity. Spinoza was accused of blasphemy and expelled from the Synagogue of Amsterdam, being disinherited by his family. The book ‘Ethics – Demonstrated in the Geometrical Manner, ‘ completed in 1675, is his masterpiece and has influenced, and continues to influence, the thinking of numerous great philosophers.

About the author

Baruch or Benedictus de Spinoza was born on November 24, 1632, in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was born into a family of Portuguese Jewish origin who had been fleeing the clutches of the Inquisition for some time. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and would later become one of the greatest rationalist thinkers of the 17th century within Modern Philosophy. A diligent researcher of biblical texts, the Talmud – a fundamental text for rabbis – and essential works of Hebrew culture, Spinoza also investigated the writings of great Western philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, among others.