Spinoza: Logic, Knowledge and Religion

Approaching the central themes of Spinoza's thought from both a historical and analytical perspective, this book examines the logical-metaphysical core of Spinoza's philosophy, its epistemology and its ramifications for his much disputed attitude towards religion. Opening with a discussion of Spinoza's historical and philosophical location as the appropriate context for the interpretation of his work the book goes on to present a non-'logical' reading of Spinoza's metaphysics, a consideration of Spinoza's radical repudiation of Cartesian subjectivism and an examination of how Spinoza wanted religion to be understood in the context of his wider thinking and the influence of his non-Christian background. Mason also assesses Spinoza's significance and importance for philosophy now.

Contents: Introduction: Understanding Spinoza. Part I Logic: What had to be so; How things happen; Concrete logic; One thing after another. Part II Knowledge: Dealing with Descartes; Intelligibility; Belief; Spinoza, Davidson and objectivity. Part III Religion: Reducing religion?; Two views of faith; A revenge on Jewish Law?; On not being a Christian philosopher: the difference in Spinoza. Bibliography; Index.

Richard Mason is a Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge University, UK.