Meaning in Spinoza’s Method

Readers of Spinoza’s philosophy have often been daunted, and sometimes been enchanted, by the geometrical method which he employs in his philosophical masterpiece the Ethics. In Meaning in Spinoza\'s Method Aaron Garrett examines this method and suggests that its purpose, in Spinoza’s view, was not just to present claims and propositions but also in some sense to change the readers and allow them to look at themselves and the world in a different way. His discussion draws not only on Spinoza’s works but also on those of the philosophers who influenced Spinoza most strongly, including Hobbes, Descartes, Maimonides and Gersonides. This controversial book will be of interest to historians of philosophy and to anyone interested in the relation between form and content in philosophical works.

• A full-length treatment of Spinoza’s method in English • Seeks to show the importance of both Spinonza’s early modern secular and medieval Jewish philosophical sources on his philosophy • Will be of interest to anyone interested in the history of philosophy as a procedure of mental therapy

Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Texts and editions; Introduction; 1. A worm in the blood: some central themes in Spinoza’s Ethics; 2. A few further basic concepts; 3. Emendative therapy and the Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione; 4. Method: analysis and synthesis; 5. Maimonides and Gersonides; 6. Definitions in Spinoza’s Ethics: where they come from and what they are for; 7. The third kind of knowledge and ‘our’ eternity; Bibliography; Index of passages referred to and cited; General index.

‘… there are some very illuminating aspects of this book.’ – British Journal for the History of Philosophy

‘For many readers, the most admirable thing about this admirable book will be its successful depiction of Spinozism as a brilliant synthesis of competing pressures in early modern thought.‘ – Journal of the History of Philosophy