Philosophy 290: Spinoza’s Ethics

This course will be an in-depth study of Parts I, II, and V of Spinoza’s Ethics. Topics will include the mode-substance relation, the nature of causation, the doctrine of the “parallelism” of ideas and bodies, epistemic certainty, finite human minds’ relation to the infinite intellect, intellectual love of God, and blessedness. Although our focus will be on Spinoza’s text, we will also attend to influential works by Spinoza’s predecessors, including Descartes, Hobbes, Maimonides, and Gersonides.