Overview
Yitzhak Melamed here offers a new and systematic interpretation of the core of Spinoza's metaphysics. In the first part of the book, he proposes a new reading of the metaphysics of substance in Spinoza: he argues that for Spinoza modes both inhere in and are predicated of God. Using extensive textual evidence, he shows that Spinoza considered modes to be God's propria. He goes on to clarify Spinoza's understanding of infinity, mereological relations, infinite modes, and the flow of finite things from God's essence. In the second part of the book, Melamed relies on this interpretation of the substance-mode relation and the nature of infinite modes and puts forward two interrelated theses about the structure of the attribute of Thought and its overarching role in Spinoza's metaphysics. First, he shows that Spinoza had not one, but two independent doctrines of parallelism. Then, in his final main thesis, Melamed argues that, for Spinoza, ideas have a multifaceted (in fact, infinitely faceted) structure that allows one and the same idea to represent the infinitely many modes which are parallel to it in the infinitely many attributes. Thought turns out to be coextensive with the whole of nature. Spinoza cannot embrace an idealist reduction of Extension to Thought because of his commitment to the conceptual separation of the attributes. Yet, within Spinoza's metaphysics, Thought clearly has primacy over the other attributes insofar as it is the only attribute which is as elaborate, as complex, and, in some senses, as powerful as God.
Full Product Details
Author: Yitzhak Y. Melamed (Associate Professor of Philosophy, Associate Professor of Philosophy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 23.10cm
Weight: 0.386kg
ISBN: 9780190237349
ISBN 10: 0190237341
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 23 April 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
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Reviews
Melamed remarks that 'it is better to observe the beast' of Spinoza's bold metaphysics 'than to tame it'. Anyone seeking to understand the magnificent beast will benefit enormously from his skilled observations of it. Don Garret, Journal of Philosophy Spinoza's Metaphysics will stimulate and inform discussion of Spinoza for years to come. Journal of the History of Philosophy Focused on some of the most fundamental issues in the interpretation of Spinoza's metaphysics, this volume is original, deeply informed, and compellingly argued. There is no question that this is excellent work that will be of great interest to scholars and students interested in understanding Spinoza's metaphysics. Don Garrett, Professor of Philosophy, New York University One of Melamed's most important contributions is that he rehabilitates the traditional view of Spinoza as a pantheist. Michah Gottlieb, Jewish Review of Books
Spinoza's Metaphysics will stimulate and inform discussion of Spinoza for years to come. --Journal of the History of Philosophy Focused on some of the most fundamental issues in the interpretation of Spinoza's metaphysics, this volume is original, deeply informed, and compellingly argued. There is no question that this is excellent work that will be of great interest to scholars and students interested in understanding Spinoza's metaphysics. --Don Garrett, Professor of Philosophy, New York University One of Melamed's most important contributions is that he rehabilitates the traditional view of Spinoza as a pantheist. --Jewish Review of Books Melamed remarks that 'it is better to observe the beast' of Spinoza's bold metaphysics 'than to tame it'. Anyone seeking to understand the magnificent beast will benefit enormously from his skilled observations of it. -- Journal of Philosophy
Focused on some of the most fundamental issues in the interpretation of Spinoza's metaphysics, this volume is original, deeply informed, and compellingly argued. There is no question that this is excellent work that will be of great interest to scholars and students interested in understanding Spinoza's metaphysics. Don Garrett, Professor of Philosophy, New York University
""Spinoza's Metaphysics will stimulate and inform discussion of Spinoza for years to come."" --Journal of the History of Philosophy ""Focused on some of the most fundamental issues in the interpretation of Spinoza's metaphysics, this volume is original, deeply informed, and compellingly argued. There is no question that this is excellent work that will be of great interest to scholars and students interested in understanding Spinoza's metaphysics.""--Don Garrett, Professor of Philosophy, New York University ""One of Melamed's most important contributions is that he rehabilitates the traditional view of Spinoza as a pantheist."" --Jewish Review of Books ""Melamed remarks that 'it is better to observe the beast' of Spinoza's bold metaphysics 'than to tame it'. Anyone seeking to understand the magnificent beast will benefit enormously from his skilled observations of it."" -- Journal of Philosophy
Author Information
Yitzhak Y. Melamed is a Professor in the Philosophy Department at Johns Hopkins University. He works on Early Modern Philosophy, German Idealism, and some issues in contemporary metaphysics (time, mereology, and trope theory). Recently he won the ACLS Burkhardt (2011), NEH (2010), and Humboldt (2011) fellowships for his next major book project: Spinoza and German Idealism: A Metaphysical Dialogue.
