Spinoza on Ethics and Understanding

By (author) Peter Winch Introduction by David Cockburn Edited by Michael Campbell, Sarah Tropper

Publication date:

06 November 2020

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

229x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781785275432

This volume unites Peter Winch’s previously unpublished work on Baruch de Spinoza. The primary source for the text is a series of seminars on Spinoza that Winch gave, first at the University of Swansea in 1982 and then at King’s College London in 1989. What emerges is an original interpretation of Spinoza’s work that demonstrates his continued relevance to contemporary issues in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, and establishes connections to other philosophers - not only Spinoza’s predecessors such as René Descartes, but also important 20th Century philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Simone Weil. Alongside Winch's lectures, the volume contains an interpretive essay by David Cockburn, and an introduction by the editors.

Acknowledgements; Editors' Introduction; Winch, Spinoza and the Human Body, by David Cockburn; Note on the Text; Abbreviations; Spinoza: Ethics and Understanding; 1. Method and Judgement; 2. Substance and Attributes; 3. Negation, Limitation, and Modes; 4. Mind and Body; 5. The Emotions, Good and Evil; 6. The Life of Reason; Bibliography; Index.

"Peter Winch’s depth as a philosopher comes out in the depth of his engagement with Spinoza. Spinoza’s ethical concerns resonated with Winch’s own; and his lectures are wonderfully expressive of how he saw philosophy itself. Winch’s discussions of the complex relation between Descartes’s philosophy and that of Spinoza are among the most valuable features of this fine book." — Cora Diamond, Kenan Professor Of Philosophy Emerita, Department of Philosophy, University of Virginia