Armando Montanari, Gerhard Curdes and Leslie Forsyth
Ashgate
Hardback
416
1993
"This book presents the first accessible analysis of Spinoza?s Tractatus Theologico-politicus, situating the work in the context of Spinoza?s general philosophy and its 17th-century historical background. According to Spinoza it is impossible for a being to be infinitely perfect and to have a legislative will. This idea, demonstrated in the Ethics, is presupposed and further elaborated in the Tractatus Theologico-politicus. It implies not only that on the level of truth all revealed religion is false but also that all authority is of human origin and that all obedience is rooted in a political structure. The consequences for ""authority"" as it is used in a religious context are explored: the authority of Scripture, the authority of particular interpretations of Scripture, and the authority of the Church. Verbeek also explores the work of two other philosophers of the period ? Hobbes and Descartes ? to highlight certain peculiarities of Spinoza?s position, and to show the contrasts between their theories."
Ashgate
Hardback
416
1993
"This book presents the first accessible analysis of Spinoza?s Tractatus Theologico-politicus, situating the work in the context of Spinoza?s general philosophy and its 17th-century historical background. According to Spinoza it is impossible for a being to be infinitely perfect and to have a legislative will. This idea, demonstrated in the Ethics, is presupposed and further elaborated in the Tractatus Theologico-politicus. It implies not only that on the level of truth all revealed religion is false but also that all authority is of human origin and that all obedience is rooted in a political structure. The consequences for ""authority"" as it is used in a religious context are explored: the authority of Scripture, the authority of particular interpretations of Scripture, and the authority of the Church. Verbeek also explores the work of two other philosophers of the period ? Hobbes and Descartes ? to highlight certain peculiarities of Spinoza?s position, and to show the contrasts between their theories."