Overview

A celebrated metaphysician, epistemologist, political philosopher, and a seminal figure of the Enlightenment, Benedict de Spinoza remains one of the most radical thinkers of the early modern period. Controversial in his time for his critiques of scripture, Spinoza is widely considered to be one of the great rationalists of the 17th century, and his thought has had a lasting influence on a range of fields including metaphysics, ethics, political theory, religion, and Judaism. A Companion to Spinoza presents a panoramic view of contemporary Spinoza studies in Europe and across the Anglo-American world. Designed to stimulate productive dialogue between the analytic and continental traditions, this extraordinary volume brings together 53 original essays from an international team of established and emerging scholars which together explore Spinoza’s philosophy, legacy, and influence and advance new ideas to direct future research. Divided into six thematically organized sections, chapters examine Spinoza’s life and background, his contributions to metaphysics and natural philosophy, his epistemology, politics, ethics, and aesthetics, and his reception in the work of interlocutors such as Kant, Schelling, Schopenhauer, and Hegel. Thoughtfully composed and expertly curated, A Companion to Spinoza is an unparalleled reference resource for researchers and scholars in Spinoza studies, students of modern philosophy, intellectual history, and the history of metaphysics, and general readers interested in the life and legacy of one of history’s most remarkable thinkers.

Full Product Details

Author:   Yitzhak Y. Melamed (Johns Hopkins University)
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Imprint:   Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN:  

9781119538677

ISBN 10:   111953867
Pages:   608
Publication Date:   04 December 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Awaiting stock  

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors xi List of Abbreviations xvii Introduction xix Yitzhak Y. Melamed Part I Life and Background 1 1 Spinoza’s Life 3 Piet Steenbakkers 2 Spinoza Philology 15 Piet Steenbakkers 3 Avicenna and Spinoza on Essence and Existence 30 Stephen R. Ogden 4 Spinoza and Maimonides on True Religion 41 Warren Zev Harvey 5 Spinoza and Scholastic Philosophy 47 Emanuele Costa 6 Spinoza and Descartes 56 Denis Kambouchner 7 Spinoza’s Dutch Philosophical Background 68 Henri Krop Copyrighted Material 8 Spinoza and Hobbes 81 Michael LeBuffe Part II Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy 93 9 Spinoza’s Monistic Metaphysics of Substance and Mode 95 Don Garrett 10 Spinoza and Eternity 108 Pierre‐François Moreau 11 Spinoza on Causa Sui 116 Yitzhak Y. Melamed 12 Spinoza’s Physical Picture 126 John Carriero 13 Spinoza’s Mereology 135 Tad M. Schmaltz 14 Spinoza’s Metaphysics of Time 144 Raphael Krut‐Landau 15 Spinoza’s Infinities 158 Luce deLire 16 Spinoza on Diachronic Identity 170 Dominik Perler 17 Spinoza on Relations 179 Zachary Gartenberg 18 Spinoza on Numerical Identity and Time 189 John Morrison 19 Spinoza on Universals 204 Karolina Hübner 20 Spinoza’s Ontology of Power 214 Juan Manuel Ledesma Viteri 21 Spinoza’s Modal Theory 222 Olli Koistinen 22 Spinoza on Determination 231 Noa Shein 23 Spinoza’s Physics 240 Alison Peterman Part III Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Psychology 251 24 Spinoza on Human and Divine Knowledge 253 Ursula Renz and Barnaby R. Hutchins 25 Reflective Knowledge 265 Kristin Primus 26 Spinoza Against the Skeptics 276 Stephan Schmid 27 Spinoza on Ideas of Affections 286 Lia Levy 28 The Mind‐Body Union 296 Chantal Jaquet 29 Spinoza’s Non‐Theory of Non‐Consciousness 304 Daniel Garber 30 Spinoza on the Passions and the Self 328 Andrea Sangiacomo 31 The Serpent and the Dove: Spinoza’s Two Paths to Enlightenment 338 Michah Gottlieb Part IV Ethics, Politics, and Religion 349 32 Spinoza’s Moral Philosophy 351 Steven Nadler 33 Spinoza on the Constitution of Animal Species 365 Susan James 34 Essence, Virtue and the State 375 Erin Islo 35 Law and Dissolution of Law in Spinoza 384 Pina Totaro 36 Spinoza’s Notion of Freedom 394 Moira Gatens 37 Spinoza’s “Republican Idea of Freedom” 402 Michael A. Rosenthal 38 Spinoza and Economics 410 Eric Schliesser 39 Spinoza and Feminism 422 Hasana Sharp 40 Spinoza and International Law 431 Moa De Lucia Dahlbeck 41 The Intellectual Love of God 440 Clare Carlisle 42 Spinoza and Scripture 449 Dan Arbib Part V Aesthetics and Language 463 43 Spinoza’s Aesthetics 465 Domenica G. Romagni 44 Following Traces in the Sand: Spinoza on Semiotics 474 Lorenzo Vinciguerra 45 Spinoza and the Grammar of the Hebrew Language 483 Guadalupe González Diéguez Part VI Spinoza’s Reception 493 46 Leibniz and Spinoza on Plenitude and Necessity 495 Jean‐Pascal Anfray 47 Spinoza in France, ca. 1670–1970 506 Mogens Lærke 48 Kant and Spinoza 517 Colin Marshall 49 Nietzsche and Spinoza 527 Jason M. Yonover ́50 Schelling with Spinoza on Freedom 538 Daniel Dragicévic 51 Hegel on Spinozism and the Beginning of Philosophy 548 José María Sánchez de León Serrano 52 Schopenhauer’s Critique of Spinoza’s Pantheism, Optimism, and Egoism 557 Mor Segev 53 Spinoza and Popular Philosophy 568 Jack Stetter Index 579

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Author Information

Yitzhak Y. Melamed is the Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He works at the intersection of philosophy, Jewish and religious studies, the history of science, and contemporary metaphysics. He has been awarded the ACLS-Burkhardt, NEH, Fulbright, and Mellon Fellowships. He is the author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought (2015), and a large number of studies on early modern philosophy, medieval philosophy, and German idealism.

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