The noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers … ethically he is supreme. (Bertrand Russell)”

Benedict de Spinoza was born in Amsterdam in 1632, where his orthodox Jewish family had fled from persecution in Portugal. Spinoza was expelled from the synagogue for his heterodox philosophy, and earned his living as an optical-lens grinder. He identified God with nature and denied the possibility of an act of creation. Ethics was published in 1677 after his death and explored a doctrine which inspired the Romantic poets.

Edwin Curley is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan and editor and translator of Spinoza’s Collected Works.
Stuart Hampshire was elected a Fellow of All Souls in 1936 and was a tutor in philosophy. He has held numerous presitigious academic posts.

“This little book is by an enlightened soul. Spinoza is the philosopher’s philosopher, who creates a mathematical style model with theorems lemmas of the most non mathematical field of inquiry, metaphysics. This book reminded me that the divide between atheism and theism is not that easy such that any person with a brain would be an atheist. The definition of God, and the incorporation of God in his system, which is light years ahead of other canonical western thought. It advocates non duality, something which Hindus and Buddhists will appreciate, and leads to issues of mind, morality, ethics, reality, all questions in a little pocket book. Spinoza is so gentle and reading about his life, he has struck as a venerable figure to me, as a spiritual guide in the rationalist manner”