Spinoza on Learning to Live Together
Published on 17. June 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-19-896629-6 (ISBN)
Description
Philosophising, as Spinoza conceives it, is the project of learning to live joyfully. Yet this is also a matter of learning to live together, and the surest manifestation of philosophical insight is the capacity to sustain a harmonious way of life.
Here, Susan James defends this overall interpretation of Spinoza's philosophy and explores its bearing on contemporary philosophical debates about issues such as religious toleration, how we use our knowledge, and the environmental emergency. Part I focuses on Spinoza's epistemology. Philosophical understanding empowers us by giving us access to truths about the world and ourselves, and by motivating us to act on them. It gives us reasons for living together and enhances our ability to cooperate. Part II takes up Spinoza's claim that, to cultivate this kind of understanding, we need to live in political communities. It explores his analysis of how states can develop a co-operative ethos. Finally, living joyfully compels us to look beyond the state to our relationship with the rest of nature. The concluding section of this book focuses on some of the overarching virtues this requires.
Here, Susan James defends this overall interpretation of Spinoza's philosophy and explores its bearing on contemporary philosophical debates about issues such as religious toleration, how we use our knowledge, and the environmental emergency. Part I focuses on Spinoza's epistemology. Philosophical understanding empowers us by giving us access to truths about the world and ourselves, and by motivating us to act on them. It gives us reasons for living together and enhances our ability to cooperate. Part II takes up Spinoza's claim that, to cultivate this kind of understanding, we need to live in political communities. It explores his analysis of how states can develop a co-operative ethos. Finally, living joyfully compels us to look beyond the state to our relationship with the rest of nature. The concluding section of this book focuses on some of the overarching virtues this requires.
Reviews / Votes
[O]ne looking for an account of Spinoza's views on the ethics of ordinary life could hardly ask for a better guide than Susan James. Spinoza on Learning to Live Together makes the case for regarding Spinoza, for all of his rarefied intellectualism, as a theorist who is deeply attuned to the challenges to, and importance of, living cooperatively with others. * Justin Steinberg, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews * James's volume has much to add to our understanding of Spinoza's ethics, politics, and their interconnection, and will be an indispensable volume for scholars and casual readers of Spinoza alike. * Hadley Marie Cooney, Central Michigan University, Journal of the History of Philosophy * The essays are informed by deep scholarship, but the exemplary clarity and elegance of their composition make this volume an excellent introduction to Spinoza for those new to philosophy. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * M. Latzer, CHOICE * This is a wonderful collection of essays. They offer sophisticated and unexpected insights into aspects of Spinoza's philosophical system-and especially the unity of that system in its metaphysical, epistemological, moral, and political dimensions-that have largely been unexplored by scholars. . . . James is an astute political thinker in her own right, and her commentaries on Spinoza's political, religious, and ethical views are of general philosophical interest. Moreover, James is an elegant writer, and these essays are a pleasure to read. It is a great benefit to have them published together in one place. * Steven Nadler, European Journal of Philosophy *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
372 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-896629-6 (9780198966296)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Susan James is Professor Emerita at Birkbeck College London and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at King's College London. She has written on a range of themes in early modern philosophy, including political philosophy, philosophical psychology and the philosophy of art. Among her publications are Passion and Action: The Emotions in Early Modern Philosophy (Oxford, 1997) and Spinoza on Philosophy Religion and Politics: The Theologico-Political Treatise (Oxford 2012).
Content
Introduction: Philosophy as the Art of Living Together
Part I. Learning to Live Together
Creating Rational Understanding: Spinoza as a Social Epistemologist
When Does Truth Matter? The Relation Between Theology and Philosophy
Spinoza on Superstition: Coming to Terms with Fear
Narrative as a Means to Freedom: Spinoza on the Uses of Imagination
Responding Emotionally to Fiction: A Spinozist Approach
Part II. The Politics of Living Together
Law and Sovereignty in Spinoza's Politics
Natural Rights as Powers to Act
Democracy and the Good Life in Spinoza's Philosophy
Freedom, Slavery and the Passions
Freedom of Conscience and Civic Peace: Spinoza on Piety
Part III. Philosophical Communities
Freedom and Nature: A Spinozist Invitation
The Affective Cost of Philosophical Self-Transformation
Fortitude: Living in the Light of our Knowledge
Part I. Learning to Live Together
Creating Rational Understanding: Spinoza as a Social Epistemologist
When Does Truth Matter? The Relation Between Theology and Philosophy
Spinoza on Superstition: Coming to Terms with Fear
Narrative as a Means to Freedom: Spinoza on the Uses of Imagination
Responding Emotionally to Fiction: A Spinozist Approach
Part II. The Politics of Living Together
Law and Sovereignty in Spinoza's Politics
Natural Rights as Powers to Act
Democracy and the Good Life in Spinoza's Philosophy
Freedom, Slavery and the Passions
Freedom of Conscience and Civic Peace: Spinoza on Piety
Part III. Philosophical Communities
Freedom and Nature: A Spinozist Invitation
The Affective Cost of Philosophical Self-Transformation
Fortitude: Living in the Light of our Knowledge