Baruch Spinoza (24 November 1632 in Amsterdam – 21 February 1677 in The Hague) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin. He is considered to be one of the great Rationalist philosophers of the 17th century. Other famous rationalists include Gottfried Leibniz and René Descartes.
Spinoza's ideas were not cherished by the Jewish community in Amsterdam of the time, and Spinoza was excommunicated in 1656.
An important idea in Spinoza's philosophy is God and Nature (everything that exists) are the same thing. Opposing Dualism, Spinoza said that the body and the mind (soul) are two of God's infinite attributes.
There is no good or evil in Nature, and that these words only have meanings for human beings. For a person, an event that leads to happiness is good, and an event that leads to suffering is bad.
When a person acts from his own nature, he is said to be Active. The more you understand your actions, the more active you become. Active emotions lead to happiness and an understanding of God, as well as to Freedom.
When a person is being influenced by another person, or a thing, he is said to be Passive.
The goal of every person is to intellectually love God (that is, understand Nature as much as humanly possible).
This page was last changed on 8 September 2018, at 14:34.