Baruch Spinoza: biography of this Sephardic philosopher and thinker.

Spinoza's commitment to philosophy earned him excommunication by the Church.

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a modern philosopher, now recognized as one of the main exponents of rationalism. Among his works, it is worth noting that he problematized and provided a different understanding of nature in relation to divinity, as well as having discussed in an important way moral, political and religious concepts.

In the following article we will see the biography of Baruch Spinozaas well as a brief description of his main contributions to modern philosophy.

Biography of Baruch Spinoza: rationalist philosopher.

Baruch Spinoza, originally called Benedictus (in Latin) or Bento de Spinoza (In Portuguese), was born on November 24, 1632 in Amsterdam. His parents were Jews who had emigrated to Spain and later to Portugal.. There they were forced to convert to Christianity, although they continued to practice Judaism in secret. After being arrested by the Inquisition, they finally fled to Amsterdam.

In this city, Baruch's father developed as an important merchant and later as director of the city's synagogue. Baruch Spinoza's mother died when he was only six years old.

Before arriving in Amsterdam, Spinoza had already been educated at institutes with a Roman Catholic focus. In the same period he was educated in Hebrew and Jewish philosophy.. Already in Amsterdam, at the age of 19, Spinoza worked as a small merchant, while continuing to study in schools with an orthodox Jewish focus.

At this time, Spinoza became especially interested in Cartesian philosophy, mathematics and the philosophy of Hobbes.He gradually became very critical of the Bible's accuracy and interpretation. Gradually he became very critical of the accuracy and interpretation of the Bible, especially regarding the idea of the immortality of the soul, the notion of transcendence and the laws dictated by God, as well as their binding for the Jewish community. The latter earned him excommunication.

In fact, it was in this period that Spinoza began to change his name from Hebrew to Latin, probably due to the possibility of reprisals and censure. In fact, he refused to serve as a professor at the University of Heidelberg because he was asked not to alter the religious slogans in force.

Baruch Spinoza spent his last years in The Hague, where he died of tuberculosis on February 21, 1677, at the age of 44 and without having finished one of his last works, called political treatise.

Ethics

One of the themes on which Spinoza's work was centered was ethics. In fact, Ethics demonstrated according to geometrical orderis the name of his most representative work. In it, Spinoza discussed the traditional philosophical conception of God and the human being, the universe and the moral beliefs underlying religion and theology.Spinoza discussed the traditional philosophical conception of God and the human being, the universe and the moral beliefs underlying religion and theology. Among other things, the philosopher wanted to show that God actually exists, as well as nature and ourselves.

Heir to Cartesian thought, which suggested the possibility of finding a rational and algebraic explanation for the existence of God, but also faithful to his Jewish, Stoic and scholastic training, Baruch held the existence of a single infinite substance.

The difference with Descartes' thought is that, for Spinoza, this substance is unique (Descartes spoke of two), and can be equivalent to nature and at the same time to God. From this point on, he discusses the relationship between nature and God. he discusses the relationship between nature and the divine.. And since God is not caused by anything, that is, nothing precedes him, then he exists. Or, in other words, God, as a unique and divine substance, is that which is conceived by itself. This is one of the most representative ontological arguments about his existence in different works of modern rationalism.

Not only that, but Spinoza argues that, consequently, the human mind can know either through thought or through its extension. This takes Descartes as a model, but at the same time poses a difference, since the latter said that knowledge was given only through thought, and that extension (nature) made reason err.

Spinoza maintains that there are three types of human knowledgeOne is derived from the slavery of the passions, another is related to reason and the consciousness of causes (whose value is the control of the passions), and the third is the disinterested intuition that is assimilated to the point of view of God. The latter is the only one capable of providing the only possible human happiness.

Treatise on political theology

The Tractatus, a work that earned Spinoza significant recognition, combines biblical criticism, political philosophy and philosophy of religion with the development of metaphysics. Something that is represented in an important way is Spinoza's detachment from and Spinoza's critique of the Bible..

For Spinoza, the issues presented in this book are riddled with inconsistencies that can be explained through the scientific study of language, history and the beliefs of past times. For this very reason it is believed to be one of the works that also earned Spinoza excommunication.

Thus, Spinoza sets out to reveal the truth about scripture and religion, and in this way to sabotage or question the political power exercised in modern states by religious authorities. He also defends, at least as a political ideal, tolerant, secular and democratic politics. Among other things, Spinoza rejected the term and conceptions of morality, because he considered them to be only ideals.

Other of his most representative works are A Brief Treatise on God, Man and Happiness y On the Reformation of the Understanding.