Benedictus de Spinoza

Rodney F. Taylor
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

The scope of Benedictus de Spinoza's influence on the intellectual development of world culture is immeasurable. The progenitor of a monistic

Weltanschauung

, Spinoza's thought proved highly pluralistic in its philosophical and literary permutations. Major themes of his philosophical system continue to inspire artists and scholars in the present. Significant areas in which his ideas are still active, for example, are holistic psychology, theory of mind, process metaphysics and deep ecology. Due largely to his critique of religion, for a century following his death the name of Spinoza became generally synonymous with “Atheist”, and the philosopher was reviled throughout Europe as a maleficent Hebrew Anti-Christ. In spite of this obloquy, the interest in his work of other philosopers and…

3117 words

Citation: Taylor, Rodney F.. "Benedictus de Spinoza". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 December 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4175, accessed 19 April 2024.]

4175 Benedictus de Spinoza 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.