|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This biography of 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) may seem out of place in the Jewish Encounters series, devoted to Jewish thinkers and themes, because Spinoza denied the importance of Jewish identity, and Amsterdam's Jewish community expelled him for heresy. But Goldstein, author of The Mind-Body Problem and Incompleteness and a professor of philosophy, reconstructs Spinoza's life and traces his metaphysics to his efforts to solve the dilemmas of Jewish identity. The philosopher grew up in a community of Jews who had fled the Spanish-Portuguese Inquisition. As Goldstein argues, Spinoza's "determination to think through his community's tragedy in the most universal terms possible compelled him to devise a unique life for himself, insisting on secularism when the concept of it had not yet been conceived." For Spinoza, "salvation" lay in achieving the radical objectivity of pure reason, which dissolves the contingent facts of one's personal history and religious and ethnic identity. Spinoza's effort to live as neither Jew nor Christian nor Muslim was unthinkable in the 17th century, but his arguments for political and religious tolerance were forerunners for the U.S. Constitution. In this admirable biography, Goldstein shows that Spinoza is paradoxically Jewish, "[f]or what can be more characteristic of a Jewish thinker than to use the Jewish experience as a conduit to universality?" (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“Beautifully crafted. What seem like separate issues—Spinoza’s pioneering advocacy of complete freedom of thought in religious matters; the turmoil in the Jewish community; the fateful events in Amsterdam in the closing years of Spinoza’s life; the philosophical developments of the seventeenth century; Spinoza’s idea of a philosophical religion utterly purged of all anthropomorphism, even to the extent of denying that God is a ‘person’ in any sense—come together as if by themselves (the sure sign of a fine artist!) to answer my puzzle: how to understand Spinoza the human being, a man for whom reason itself was a kind of salvation.”
—Hilary Putnam, New York Observer
From the Trade Paperback edition.
—Hilary Putnam, New York Observer
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Whetting appetites of those unfamiliar with the breadth of the so-called heretic...,
By Adam Daniel Mezei "PMD/Producer of Marketing ... (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (Hardcover)
For most Jewish teens and school-aged children, the late Amsterdamer Baruch Spinoza isn't exactly the first order of academic business on the run-of-the-mill eigth grade Jewish high school syllabus.I suppose that partly explains why -- prior to reading this book, fourth in the amazing "Jewish Encounters" series -- I hardly knew much about Spinoza. That which I *did* know was none too good; according to most Jewish theologians and scholars, the collected writings and musings of the former Dutchman of former converso (or New Christian, converted during the Spanish Inquisition) parents is feared with a virulence seldom seen in Jewish academic circles. My central question in picking up this book was WHY? What was so controversial about Spinoza's words, and what did Jewish clergy and laymen have to fear from the utterances of this brilliant man? What was so threatening about a Jew who questioned the notion of God, and, moreover, how much of a threat could this man have been when latter-day evidence suggests that Spinoza had always wished to remain a part and parcel of the kehila (Amsterdam's Jewish Community) despite the worst of the kherems, or excommunications? Why had the Dutch rabbinate of the time tarred Spinoza so indelibly? Goldstein tackles many of these issues in her work, positing that perhaps had Spinoza grown up in a different time under different circumstances, a "Spinoza" mightn't have been such a threat to a fragile Jewish community on the comeback trail. During Spinoza's era, Jews were a rather new phenomenon to the newly-amalgamated Dutch Provinces. Only recently had Jewish residents of the city of Amsterdam been granted their civil rights by the various Dutch burghers. Therefore, Goldstein describes (as have others, I'm sure) how Spinoza's constant challenging of the existence of a deity or higher power was total anathema to a community who was seeking to crystallize their indentity after nearly a century of living underground as unsuspecting Christians or "secret" Jews. Amsterdam Jews had continued to look fondly to the more established Jewish community in Venice, for example, for its solace and religious sustenance, upon whose recommendation -- as you'll read in this book -- came the "suggestion" to ban Spinoza from having an influence on the tender young minds of the nascent Dutch Jewish community. You're going to love how Goldstein uses the leitmotif of her former Jewish girls yeshiva (Jewish seminary) teacher Mrs. Schoenfeld of Manhattan's Lower East Side, a matronly type who used to consel her students -- girls like Rebecca Goldstein -- on the corrosive harm of Spinoza's words and deeds. She weaves references to this woman throughout the narrative, and it's a cute little break in the action -- but its significance to the modern impression Jews have vis-a-vis Spinoza is an importance which shouldn't be dimished by its apparent cuteness. It was this seminal event in the writer's life which began her lifelong quest to unearth the truth about the so-called renegade heretic, culminating ostensibly in this book. Some of my favourite chapters outlined an historical overview of the immediate aftermath of the Expulsion period from Spain, and at how the pernicious legacy of the Spanish Inquisition germinated latent self-doubt within the hearts and minds of Amsterdam's Jewish collective. It was the as-yet unformed thoughts of this tiny collective which became the barren soil of Spinoza's rejected notions; it was a community who had virtually ensured Baruch Spinoza's untimely death due to the viciousness with which it had dogged him. I didn't know much about Spinoza before settling into this read. Therefore I approached the subject matter with a very open mind. Following this, I made a list of alternative sources which I'll be getting into before making a definitive decision on whether I would like to buy into the Spinozist worldview. Having said that, what a majesty of the post-modernist era that I'm even able to make such a frank admission (!!!) -- for had I dwelled during the mid-17th century, I mightn't have had such a distinct luxury: to be able to decide or not to decide whether a god exists. My rating of only four stars comes about because I felt Goldstein's narrative to be somewhat truncated in certain sections. I'd have liked to have seen a work at least double the size of this current page length, because many ideas, I felt, needed "take-off" room to launch themselves into my mind. I wonder what the editors at Schocken Books had in mind with making all of the Jewish Encounters books in their series so short. I guess they're victims of the age, too. Short attention spans and the instant availability of titles on the internet prevent people from making time for anything other than a couple of hundred pages. Pity. Admittedly, and this is no umbrage of Ms. Goldstein's excellent research and highly educational work, I'm personally not too clever when it comes to the actual philosophy described herein. Within the pages of BETRAYING SPINOZA, there existed a strong presumption on the author's part that the various Latin idioms and philophical Descartes-ian and Leibniz-ian concepts were understood by all and sundry. I'd have liked to have been given a little bit of a primer on these before having settled down into the nitty-gritties of the read, which wasn't the case. I found myself at certain spots getting a little lost in the highbrow verbiage, and that's what affected various parts of my enjoyment, if the truth is to be told. I don't know if that was intentional; I merely say this because in my readings of two prior titles from this series (see my reviews for Century's BARNEY ROSS, for example) there wasn't such a presumption made. But for an uncommonly sympathetic read on Spinoza from a talented beyond her years Jewish author and professor, BETRAYING SPINOZA is as good as it gets. Treat yourself to the honour of reading about one of the finer Jewish minds of the past half-millennium to have ever lived. -- ADM in Prague
5.0 out of 5 stars
Betraying Spinoza,
By
This review is from: Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (Hardcover)
This book is an exciting read both because of the subject and the approach of the author. The author has a writing style which I found generally engaging. Her knowledge of her subject matter is impressive. She brings forward a picture of the Jewish experience during the time of Spinoza and some aspects of the Jewish experience of Spinoza. The discussion of the impact of Spinoza's definition of God helps to clarify why his ideas would be considered heretical. She discusses of the impact of Spinoza's writings on Western society and how he brought us modernity. She describes the historical background in which Spinoza lived explaining how liberating the Dutch acceptance of the Jews must have been in contrast to the intolerance and persecution experienced in Spain. She references her text and that is very helpful.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (51 customer reviews) 114 of 122 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent in many dimensions,
By Daniel Shaw - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (Hardcover)
"Betraying Spinoza" -- the first book I've dogeared and filled with margin notes in years -- is fascinating and fulfilling in many areas:Philosophy -- I spun over Spinoza in a survey course decades ago, and am now surprised to discover that his oh-so systematic approach makes great sense once I see through his Euclidean screen. Goldstein barely hints that Spinoza's system resonates perfectly with today's brain science, though suffering the same shortfall when it comes to an explanation for consciousness. In any case, wholly unique and miles ahead of Descartes because free of the limits Christianity imposed at this dawn of the Age of Reason. History -- Before reading this I was ignorant of the "Golden Age" of Jewish culture in Iberia under the Moslem occupation, of the lasting impact of the Spanish/Portugese Inquisition on those who faced the "convert or die" ultimatum and chose to convert. I also knew very little about the history of Jewish thought during this time, the connection of the Inquisition to the rise of Cabbalism, etc. (Those more familiar with Judaica will have an easier time with some terminology.) Theology -- Putting full trust in reason and God rather than the Bible, Spinoza is as relevant today as when he stood alone in a world that was trying to fine harmony between Christianity and science, and contorting both in the process. As Goldstein doesn't need to dwell on a statement of faith from Albert Einstein to demonstrate Spinoza's relevance today. A "Great Read" -- This book also demonstrates that Goldstein is both a daring scholar and a damn fine writer. She lets you know before veering into speculation, not too often and each time a worthwhile expedition. Highly recommended! 51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What price dissent?,
By Stephen A. Haines - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (Hardcover)
The era known as The Enlightenment is characterised by many breaks with tradition. Protestant Christianity had consolidated its gains against the monolithic Roman Church, raising national consciousness in the process. The printing press expanded the reach of knowledge and imperialism added new discoveries of nature. Although the religious wars that had racked Europe had subsided, an expanded view of the world had raised new challenges. If the world was so vast and varied, where was humanity's true place in it? One man brought many of the questions together and formulated a new version of faith. Baruch Spinoza, an Amsterdam Jew, instilled a religion based on reason. In this captivating account of the roots of Spinoza's thinking, Goldstein has done more than simply delineate his life. She firmly establishes that excommunicated as he was, Spinoza remained fundamentally Jewish. More so, perhaps, than any of his contemporaries or predecessors.Goldstein's own introduction to Spinoza opens the narrative and is brought back many times to make various points. Her yeshiva teacher, in the best Orthodox tradition, berated the memory of Spinoza as a radical and atheist. Burning with questions she dared not utter, Goldstein went through university and to a teaching position of her own. Assigned a course on 17th Century thinkers, she was forced to delve into Spinoza's life and writings. Between her own reading and student questions, Goldstein was driven to better understand her subject. She found a man leading an isolated life, banished by his community, who still carried the heritage of his ancestors as part of his mental baggage. The dichotomy led Spinoza to consider that Europe's religions were under the thrall of a variety of man-made ideologies, dogmas and practices. The god, he declared, was all-pervasive and one with Nature. All intermediaries between humanity and the deity must be cast aside. No human can know or assess another. Hence, Goldstein concedes she's "betraying Spinoza" by trying to determine the roots of his thinking. In explaining the origins of Spinoza's concepts, Goldstein takes us on a complex journey. She recounts the history of the Jews on the Iberian peninsula and their ouster at the restoration of the Catholic Monarchs. Jews had long been under pressure to convert in the Christian realm, perhaps nowhere more so than in Spain and Portugal. These "New Christians" developed tricks to retain their Jewishness while living in Catholic communities. Those who were driven out found a haven of sorts in The Netherlands. Amsterdam was a city of uneasy tolerance toward the Jewish community. Only because the Calvinists feared and despised the Roman Catholics more than the Jews were the latter allowed to practice their religion. Disturbances, such as contention over religious issues might shatter that fragile arrangement. Spinoza, although neither the first nor the only, threatened the stability of Jews in Amsterdam. To excise this threat, Spinoza, still only a young man, was excommunicated - permanently. Goldstein notes that in the years prior to his exile, Spinoza had been a star pupil in the Amsterdam synagogue. Well versed in Jewish law and history, he was clearly not a dissident for simple reasons. His family's success had placed him in a strong position in the community. He might have simply remained with his brother engaged in commercial activities. Instead, he raised questions the rabbis didn't want to hear. Many of the traditional teachings, such as those of Maimonides - considered the greatest of Mediaeval Jewish thinkers - were rejected by Spinoza. The Thirteen Articles of Faith proposed by Maimonides were considered empty in Spinoza's view. Knowledge, not blind faith, was the young exile's answer. He contended that "my purpose is to explain, not the meaning of words, but the nature of things." Only in this way, he argued, can the deity be known and understood. Spinoza's stance has led to his being considered the founder of modern philosophy. Certainly his views are a great departure from his contemporary, Descartes, who is credited with the same title by others. Spinoza, however, didn't arabesque around the existence or behaviour of the deity. He firmly insisted that observation and the application of proofs will render the deity accessible to those who persevere. That it all ends with death wasn't something Spinoza mourned, as Descartes did. A fulfilled life surmounts that grim termination. Although this book is hardly a "life", its comprehensive approach, even if it seems overfocussed to the new reader, makes it a valuable contribution. There are a few good biographies of Spinoza available, but this work provides a fresh insight in the exile's thought. It is a fitting companion to any biography. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] 50 of 53 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
a good read but ultimately not that satisfying,
By pandajama - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (Hardcover)
I think the author had a hard time deciding what she wanted this book to be. It makes a good start at a new historicist effort to understand Spinoza, but is too weak on his text to do that, so it ends up being just a history lesson (albeit an interesting one). It veers into memoir for a time, also interesting, but again too sparse to have much of a point. Then there is the explication of Spinoza's Ethics, but it's way too skeletal to be worth all the pages you have to read to get there. In the end the reader will have a good grasp of a sliver of European history, a decent idea of Spinoza's biography, and a wee bit of an understanding of his philosophy. If that's what you want, this book might be for you. But really it's a weak piece of popular philosophy that isn't going to be satisfying for a person who wants to grapple with Spinoza's thought.
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
