Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die: Steven Nadler in conversation with Alex Douglas
Recording of live webinar hosted by The Philosopher, the UK's longest running public philosophy journal, on 21 September 2020. Join future free live events & learn how to subscribe on our website: www.thephilosopher1923.org/
**Pre-order our autumn issue "What is We?" featuring Professor Steven Nadler: www.thephilosopher1923.org/pr...
---
“The free person thinks least of all of death, and his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life.” Spinoza
The seventeenth-century philosopher Spinoza has long been known for his “heretical” view of God and for the radical determinism he sees governing the cosmos and human freedom. Only recently, however, has he begun to be considered in a serious way as a moral philosopher. In his philosophical masterpiece, the Ethics, after establishing some metaphysical and epistemological foundations, he turns to the “big questions” that so often move one to reflect on, and even change, the values that inform one’s life: What is truly good? What is happiness? What is the relationship between being a good or virtuous person and enjoying happiness and human flourishing? In this conversation with fellow Spinoza scholar Alexander Douglas, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler connects Spinoza’s ideas with his life and times to offer a compelling account of how the philosopher can provide a guide to living one’s best life (and death).
Steven Nadler is the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy and Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. One of the world’s leading Spinoza scholars, his new book Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die is published in September.
Alexander Douglas is a lecturer in the School of Philosophical, Anthropological, and Film Studies at the University of St Andrews. He studies early modern rationalism, particularly various forms of Cartesianism and especially that of Spinoza. He is also interested in critiques of political economy and is the author of The Philosophy of Debt. axdouglas.com & alexxdouglas
Пікірлер: 25
I keep my death close to me, and contemplate my own death often. This has the opposite effect from “obsessing” (worrying?) about death. On the contrary, it takes death off the table. If you can face it unemotionally, death loses its power over the mind. On the other hand, anything one refuses to face becomes a greater and greater power over the mind. This whole idea is akin to psychotherapies which seeks to bring the unconscious into the conscious
@robertcoltrane5602
11 ай бұрын
Couldn't agree more, great comment.
Why does this have few views? It deserve more views.
Steven Nadler is so direct,simple,clear!
It was an excellent. I really like it.
Excellent
Spinoza's ban was a "blessing" for him and for us. If he had not been banned, he might have repented and gone back to belief, and we would not have his wonderful philosophy. The ban reinforced that he was right.
@gfsrow
Жыл бұрын
Perhaps. But very unlikely. His intellectual capacity and curiosity and convictions were already well established as a young adult. It's indeed possible that without the excommunication he might not have had the "opportunity" for sustained reflection and writing, but then again if he had not been excommunicated then his life might not have been cut short by his subsequent occupation of grinding lenses and he would have had more than enough time to pursue his explorations and writings and perhaps even authored additional works.
Everything that happens is necessary. It is the mixing of good and bad that makes reality. It shows us a way forward and calls on us to exercise our abilities. The veteran must live on because the dead cannot. Peace must be kept.
loved it - cheers guys
Steven Nadler gives us much information about Spinoza’s philosophy; however more clarity is needed. As a private teacher and student of Spinoza’s Ethics, I understand that free will is an illusion and that the laws of necessity and self-preservation govern and direct all of existence. Also, intuition is required to understand his Ethics, reason alone will not help you. His philosophy is to be lived and understood; otherwise, it becomes abstract and only entertaining.
These are wonderful words of wisdom; however, how can we apply reason and understanding when we are rooted in old patterns of thinking and behavior? How is this transfer of being possible?
I wonder if the concept of reality being equivalent to perfection follows from his idea of necessity, that the world is exactly how it should be in the sense that our narratives about good and evil reveal the relativist world, which are in the main motivated by fears, and that God, as the universe in action, is beyond relativism and those fears.
so good . informative . 1st century Israel = 21st century Korea . You have to know that . Amazing historical events are taking place there . Longitude 127 Seoul Okinawa Soul Axis -- Bahai Faith Rael Jesus Huh kyung young Great veritas
So sad spinoza died young at 44 years old..failing to preserve his conatus and due to his failure to gain knowlege of cause and effect that glass dust would ruin his lung...caute..
🙏👏🌹😂 ONLY DIVINELY BLESSED May be ORDAINED TO SEE & IMBIBE SUCH VIDEOS. IT'S DIVINE BLESSINGS OF THE DIVINE FREE WILL 🙏👏🌹😂
Loop
DIVINE RULES OF THE DIVINE GAME 🙏👏🌹😂
While Spinoza himself may have said little with regard to "animal rights," yet his single substance monism lends itself to an egalitarian approach to all flora and fauna. Not unlike how Spinoza has been related to and/or referenced by Deep Ecologists (also with how Spinoza has been a resource for various Feminist writers and those defending LGBTQ rights or indeed with any egalitarian endeavor).
ONLY DIVINELY BLESSED May be ORDAINED TO speak, hear, discuss & live life..AS PER SCHEME OF NATURE PROPOUNDED BY DIVINE SPINOZA..& THE LIKE..F. NIETZSCHE, A. SCHOPENHAUER..& THE LIKE.. ONLY DIVINELY BLESSED CAN FOLLOW THE RULES OF GAME AS HINTED BY SPINOZA..🙏👏🌹😂
Steven Nadler gives us much information about Spinoza’s philosophy; however more clarity is needed. As a private teacher and student of Spinoza’s Ethics, I understand that free will is an illusion and that the laws of necessity and self-preservation govern and direct all of existence. Also, intuition is required to understand his Ethics, reason alone will not help you. His philosophy is to be lived and understood; otherwise, it becomes abstract and only entertaining.