Spinoza's 'Ethics': What do you mean by 'God'?
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- Опубліковано 12 січ 2025
- Jonathan Rée discusses Spinoza's philosophical treatise the Ethics, an 'idealised intellectual autobiography' that, through its dry definitions and propositions, manages to tell a gripping story. Through this story emerges some of Spinoza's key ideas: that knowledge is a continuum rather than a dichotomy between sensation and reason; that the path to freedom is not about getting what you want but learning to love the world rationally; and his concept of God not as a separate supernatural being, but rather as nature or the universe as a whole, which one comes to love with 'intellectual love' as individual identity is subsumed into the greater whole.
Film by Anthony Wilks
Get 20% off Jonathan Rée's audiobook, 'Becoming a Philosopher: Spinoza to Sartre', with code YOU20 at checkout here: lrb.me/audio
Read more on Spinoza in the LRB:
Jonathan Rée: Spinoza's Big Idea lrb.me/8x8
Richard Popkin: Spinoza v the Synagogue lrb.me/kx8
George Steiner on 'Spinoza and Other Heretics' lrb.me/cx8
Jonathan Rée: Exit Cogito lrb.me/5x8
Stuart Hampshire: Small Creatures lrb.me/hx8
Frank Kermode: Theory and Truth lrb.me/3x8
Margaret Jacob: Radical Enlightenment lrb.me/ux8
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Get 20% off Jonathan Rée's audiobook, 'Becoming a Philosopher: Spinoza to Sartre', with code YOU20 at checkout here: lrb.me/audio
I notice that several people in the comments mention that they have a hard time understanding Spinoza. No shame in that, because Spinoza is not easy. This video is very nice and it's done very well. If anyone wants to discuss Spinoza with someone in order to learn more, feel free to contact me. I am deeply into Spinoza and I gladly help those who want to learn.
I wish this man was my father - I would have endless debate and learning from him by the crackling fire.
Have been trying to wrap my head around Spinoz'a God, this small video advanced my understanding by leaps and bounds. You have a way with explaining the abstract and make it sounds reachable, Thank you!
What a beautiful review. This has helped me so much. Thank you.
Thank you Jonathan Rée and Anthony Wilks for this wonderful short on Spinoza. The LRB is new to me, and looks like a great treasure I have found. :)
Thank you Bob! Very pleased to have found you.
@@londonreviewofbooks p 090000000⁰0455554rt
Imagine if America's devout Christians regarded nature as the expression of God, rather than as a thing to be destroyed in some hideous final apocalypse.
Yes, just imagine! it’s right in front of their noses.
More so Judiasm.
I have a hard time understanding Spinoza. This is great explanation. Thanks.
Thank you Jonathan. I'm fascinated by Spinoza but I'll have to listen to your lecture 10 more times!!
Spinoza NEVER converted to Christianity. In fact, he repeatedly refused his friends' solicitations to do so even though it would have been a boon to his reputation. Jonathan Ree, stop inventing history.
Thank you, I was looking for someone to comment this. Literally never heard that claim before, and it’s a transparently ridiculous one.
This was the best (albeit short) explanation of Spinoza's God that I have heard. Thank you.
Beautiful video. I’ve come to reading Spinoza through Deleuze, but didn’t really know how to approach him. This video has really helped.
God is Nature, and it exists and acts for no ulterior motive: Beautiful. Love-according to Spinoza's Ethics-would then be the equivalent of understanding (or reason)?
Love is pleasure with the idea of an external cause for Spinoza.
Nadler's 'Life of Spinoza' a must read. Get in on the founding issues of the Republican form of government, astonishingly relevant today.
Captivating. Thank you for educating me
My own journey begins with organized religion, then through the Stoics, and now to Spinoza. After a few weeks reading the Ethics, I still do not fully understand Spinoza's propositions, axioms and proofs. More contemplation is needed, I suppose.
Beautifully explained.
Thank you.
I could not understand Spinoza's God until you so beautifully described.
Espinosa’s god is the philosopers god, not the religions god and nature as he understood it is not nature in a popular meaning we all think of
agree , he also referred universe inside describing of god ! nature is not exactly god for spinoza
I would like to know who the presenter in the video is as well. So well done. Does he do other videos on philosophy?
i'm proud to be of Iberian Jewish decent.
Espinoza is one of the greats no doubt, i think his writings would do everyone a service in forming a better identity and self worth in this problematic world of rampant emotionalism and irrationality
Spinoza was my support. I am Sephardic and never believed in the teachings of the Torah. But love the culture
love it, so does my cat thank you
It doesn't even matter if Spinoza is technically right or wrong, he threw the religious leaders of his time into a tailspin. He'd thought about something, put it on paper which had value and the people who had power of peoples thoughts didn't like it. If Spinoza was alive today and he had access to all the science and knowledge that is available now, he would still be 3 or 400 years ahead of most of us.
I love how similar Spinoza is to Vedic thought (Hinduism and Buddhism, namely). Convergent evolution, baby.
4:32 he did a Jordan Peterson there😂
JP works for the UN
Very good way to see this
Absolutely enlightening stuff !!! ... 👍👍👍
Just a quick comment: Spinoza wasn't excommunicated for his alleged pantheism (he wasn't a pantheist anyways, but that's what some people say). He was excommunicated because his ideas would have put all the Rabbis out of work, and they didn't like that. He said that most of the ideas that religions propagate are ideas that stimulate the "Affects" of fear and hope, and that those are really low degree affects. That means that people, even if they did the right thing, they would be doing it for the wrong reasons- that they would be doing it out fear and out of the hope of being rewarded- instead of understanding that doing the right thing is (and should be) a reward in and of itself.
Spinoza also said that Jesus had it ALL right, that Jesus was the only Rabbi that understood and conveyed the message of God - which is ONLY a message of LOVE!!
For the record, one of his neighbors described him as having as "a man with black complexion and curly hair curly hair"...
thank you sir
What Spinoza meant by "God" is Substance, the Brahman of Shankara, the One of Plotinus, the Tao, the Rigpa (Essence) of buddhism,, the "Being-In-Itself" of Aristotle, the Ousia of the Stoics, etc. This is experiential but not in a dual sense otherwise there would be "two" substances, not One. No problem. Access "Mahamritunjaya mantra - Sacred Sounds Choir" and listen to it for 5 min per day for at least two weeks. Enjoy the Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Thank you for your contribution.
Sounds like a near death experience merging with the light and all eternity.
Guess again
Nice view! :)
freedom is the release of choice and the commitment of action to remove analysis paralysis, as freedom with too man options can create a mental prison which is that of spiritual slavery
simply to find freedom one must do and be
being still and doing nothing is still doing something as nothing rest everything is always in motion in some form for that is life now go forth and live it , because to be alive and not know how to live is evil ,
as evil is live spelled backwards, because when we refuse to live we simply become evil , but evil is simply apart of life .
Thank You so much for this. I've been drunk on the Stoics for the last five years, so now on to Spinoza. Just ordered Ethics so this introduction has done more than whet the appetite.
Good review
Sounds like he was a Jewish mystic, become part of the universe of reason. ;-)
Jews at that time hate him
Thank you I will read him
Jonathan Rée
nice review
Nobody can define God,not even Spinoza! Animals live life free
Ike God is like we should live,and like the animals not make war!
Chimpanzees war all the time
Very interesting
Who is this guy? I'm in love with him!
He never converted to Christianity… just saying.
Man! Wow! Definitely not trying to equivocate myself and Spinoza. But his idea of god, being that nature and God are the same, I came to the same idea. When I was a teenager I think.
Anyway…I’m so spinozian. lol. Is that a word?
Only just heard about him .
Einstein said that he believed in Spinoza's god, but at the same time he also said that if you can't explain an idea to a seven year old child, you haven't understood it yourself. I deduce that Spinoza did not understand what he was trying to convey, namely that (according to him) the infinite is conceivable and therefore accessible to reason, which, as everyone knows, is precisely not the case.
Yes it's all a bit wishy washy. I think he was the first hippy?
"the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses." - Einstein
@@TheGuiltsOfUs Yup, it is called greed, most likely the influence from money, gemstones, nice lifestyle of the people love money so much that they go against the rules and order. Such behaviors haven't changed in some people and it is still current.
@@TheGuiltsOfUs Correct. A personal God is a crutch.
I don't think Spinoza meant 'nature' when he said Nature. But anyway...
Spinoza excommunicated before publishing a single word, not mentioned.
Spinoza missed it , God created the universe , He created us in his own image along with his emotions and longings .God isn't like us , we are like God .
Bravo
❤Beautiful….Spinoza is always inviting us to dive deep into what he is saying for it leads to our greatest happiness (inner freedom) and a life that is available to bliss - each day that we are here on this - pale blue dot 🌏
Spinoza does not equate the God with the Universe. The Universe is just one expression of God. Said differently, the Universe is an infinitely small subset of the God. Spinoza's God has much more attributes than the Universe. So, Spinoza's Nature is not equal to the Universe we inhabit, as it is often interpreted. Also, the immortality of soul is a derivation within Spinoza's philosophy, which for modern science is a tabu. There are many other differences between what modern science claims and Spinoza's philosophy.
TIME Timing God.
עברית: ua-cam.com/video/sCTEp6d0aWs/v-deo.html
Okay???
a swarts dude from ohio....
\brian is from maryland by now....
the problem is that Spinoza does a bit of “leap of faith” when he affirms that men have a propensity or a natural tendency to live according to the guidance of reason... from where does such propensity come? just from biological need for survival? would Spinoza write the same thing if he would live in the world we live today, fast forward a few centuries, and there seems to be quite the opposite and men seem to have preferred to live according to the guidance of irrationally... What happened to such “natural” inclination to live according to reason? where did it go?! Is it such a coincidence that the more detached of the idea of God the more irrational and crazy and imoral individuals become?! I really am curious, if anyone is interested in chipping in, i am all ears...
"Natural tendency to live according to the guidance of reason"
Hmm. did he say that? If he did, it's not true.
"Is it such a coincidence that the more detached of the idea of God the more irrational and crazy and immoral individuals become?!"
Are you saying that atheist are more crazy/irrational and immoral than religious ppl?
I am finding this book to be unnecessarily abstract. His idea of God is unreliably convoluted.
@@yashverma399 When one admits their stupidity they are often more intelligent than somebody like you who acts like they actually understand something they may not.
The joke is on you
@@yashverma399 This entire discussion is so pointless. I'm sorry if it came across as if i called you stupid, i made the point of how confessing ones ignorance usually makes them generally wiser (an ode to Socrates)
Nevertheless, your belittling comment isn't necessary in the first place either. The world is already shit, can you try to not make it even worse?
If you know the answer to what my original comment was concerning, i'm up for a discussion on the book -- but if not, then don't be a dick for the sake of it, thanks.
Makes you realize why no one has ever been able to pinpoint what Spinoza's definition of God was? Lol.
Really though if you think of it in historical context, this writing came in the transition from a highly unquestioning religious world to the beginning of the enlightenment, so it's no surprise he would be trying to challenge the notion of a literal god figure above, yet couldn't bring himself or fathom going so far as saying God doesn't exist in any form.
I think if you see it in that light his writing is an important step on the way to the whole rational, enlightenment thinking. From "God is a literal omnipotent figure observing all" to "God is an omnipresent but neutral force, all-creating but non-interfering".
It is certainly a strange midway for anyone to define, but I think that's why it was so influential.
@@uniquechannelnames I understand the text more now that i've been familiar with it for a while. Yeah, i feel like he made it so abstract to draw attention away from those who were persecuting him about it. I find abstract text tedious usually, that's the base of my concern.
Sorry - WHAT A TERRIBLE SOUND QUALITY. CAN HARDLY HEAR ANYTHING
Move closer to the screen.
Gotta be on your end the sound quality is totally fine for me. I'm on less than half volume and it's at a perfect level
CAN'T SEE ANYTHING EITHER BY THE LOOKS OF THINGS WITH YOUR CAPS ON SHOUTING
Spinoza was nuts. No wonder the Temple banned him.
A genius
Conservatism is nuts
@@Ozrictentacles87 Well, I see your Liberalism hard at work in Afghanistan. Well done, Ryan!
@@kellyoradio5029 being opposed to conservatism does not make me a liberal. As far as im concerned both parties are only concerned with corporate business interests, and both equally damage the planet.
@@Ozrictentacles87 Conservatism is what used to be called Liberalism, now called Classic Liberalism. So what beliefs do you support?
Spinoza is dead.....he can see if there is a god. Keep moving.
Spinoza is in hell where he chose to go and full of regrets because in hell demons will accuse you of the most important truth how you got to hell, you denied jesus christ as the son of god you denied he came to earth to fulfill his father's commission a sacrifice for all mankind for their born sinful nature and the practice of every sin imaginable, you rejected his full pardon of his sins by the shed blood of Jesus christ therefore as jesus said you are dead in your sins and worthy of damnation everlasting, instead one turns to their own thought process and emotions coming to conclusions that bring nothing but ever lasting destruction of one's soul. sin cannot enter into the most holiest of places heaven where Almighty god and yeshua ha mashiach resides.
Christian love?
@@Spock_Rogers sure is, you lost souls have convinced yourselves Elohim yeshua is only love, they are justice", wrath" judgement. why do you think the hypocrites wanted to stone jesus, throw him off a cliff?? because he spoke his truth his justice his judgement on the proud- prideful the haughty, jesus spoke more on hell than heaven because the numbers are so huge that are choosing to go to hell instead of worshipping him in spirit and in truth. jesus also showed the greatest love of all by laying his innocent life down on a brutal" excluding the 39 lashes before the cross and the beating. whoever believes in him and the finished work of the cross should not perish but have everlasting life" with him in his kingdom heaven. my warning is his warning that in itself is his love to cause the lost to think and chose right, chose wrong it will brings destruction of souls. there is justice on earth when a pedo rapes a child and people applude at the sentence is called out, the death penalty , is that love?? people will say I don't care he deserves it. hypocrites.
Yes. Unless you believe exactly as Lee believes, it's the eternal lake of fire for you. And while you burn in agony, melt, and rematerialize only to go through the same torture all over again for all time, remember that Lee's God loves you. Lol.@@Spock_Rogers
😆
@@flovv4580 many just like you are in hell