Spinoza's 'Theological-Political Treatise': A Critical Guide Reprint Edition
Author(s): Yitzhak Y. Melamed (Editor), Michael A. Rosenthal
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: May 30, 2013
Edition: Reprint
Language: English
Print length: 310 pages
ISBN-10: 1107636922
ISBN-13: 9781107636927
Book Description
Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise was published anonymously in 1670 and immediately provoked huge debate. Its main goal was to claim that the freedom of philosophizing can be allowed in a free republic and that it cannot be abolished without also destroying the peace and piety of that republic. Spinoza criticizes the traditional claims of revelation and offers a social contract theory in which he praises democracy as the most natural form of government. This new Critical Guide presents new essays by well-known scholars in the field and covers a broad range of topics, including the political theory and the metaphysics of the work, religious toleration, the reception of the text by other early modern philosophers, and the relation of the text to Jewish thought. It offers valuable new perspectives on this important and influential work.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“…Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise: A Critical Guide is a delightful book, an impressive demonstration of erudition and scholarship. The presentation is clear and forthright.” –George Lăzăroiu, PhD, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, New York
Book Description
This book explores the debates surrounding Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise, covering topics such as political theory, metaphysics and religious toleration.
About the Author
Yitzhak Y. Melamed is Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at The Johns Hopkins University. He works primarily on early modern philosophy, German idealism, metaphysics and medieval philosophy. He is the author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics of Substance and Thought (forthcoming), as well as several articles on early modern philosophy, German idealism and metaphysics, and the editor of Eternity (forthcoming).
Michael A. Rosenthal is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Washington. He is the author of numerous articles on Spinoza and early modern philosophy, which have appeared in journals including Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Journal of the History of Philosophy, and Journal of Political Philosophy. He is currently working on a book on the Theological-Political Treatise. He was recently a Visiting Fellow at the Forschungskolleg für Humanwissenschaften in Bad Homburg, Germany.
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