Think Least Of Death

Resumen del libro

From Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler, an engaging guide to what Spinoza can teach us about life's big questionsIn 1656, after being excommunicated from Amsterdam's Portuguese-Jewish community for "abominable heresies" and "monstrous deeds," the young Baruch Spinoza abandoned his family's import business to dedicate his life to philosophy. He quickly became notorious across Europe for his views on God, the Bible, and miracles, as well as for his uncompromising defense of free thought. Yet the radicalism of Spinoza's views has long obscured that his primary reason for turning to philosophy was to answer one of humanity's most urgent questions: How can we lead a good life and enjoy happiness in a world without a providential God? In Think Least of Death, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler connects Spinoza's ideas with his life and times to offer a compelling account of how the philosopher can provide a guide to living one's best life.

In the Ethics, Spinoza presents his vision of the ideal human being, the "free person" who, motivated by reason, lives a life of joy devoted to what is most important-improving oneself and others. Untroubled by passions such as hate, greed, and envy, free people treat others with benevolence, justice, and charity. Focusing on the rewards of goodness, they enjoy the pleasures of this world, but in moderation.

"The free person thinks least of all of death," Spinoza writes, "and his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life."An unmatched introduction to Spinoza's moral philosophy, Think Least of Death shows how his ideas still provide valuable insights about how to live today.

Biografía del autor

Filósofo estadounidense especializado en el pensamiento filosófico de la temprana modernidad, en especial Descartes y los cartesianos, Spinoza y Leibniz. Profesor en la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison, ha sido profesor invitado en las universidades de Stanford, Chicago, y en la École des hautes études en sciences sociales de París. En 2007 fue docente de la cátedra Spinoza de la Universidad de Ámsterdam. En 2020 fue elegido miembro de la Academia Americana de Artes y Ciencias. Entre sus veinte libros y ediciones, cabe mencionar, entre los más recientes, The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil (2008, 2010), The philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes (2013), el volumen colectivo a su cuidado, Spinoza and Medieval Jewish Philoshophy (2014) y Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die (2020). En castellano se conoce su biografía de Spinoza (2021).