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Spinoza was to the medieval Europe what Socrates had been to the Ancient Greece. Their ideas came to free human mindset from the enslavement the religious. Thos

Spinoza was to the medieval Europe what Socrates had been to the Ancient Greece. Their ideas came to free human mindset from the enslavement the religious. Those ideas were a threat to the establishment of their days that were using gods to prey on the masses. No wonder Socrates has to be sentenced to death. Spinoza found refuge in the then tolerant Netherlands. Coincidence or not? Spinoza middle name is Benedictus => the Title of current Pope .... Hope the latter turns a modern days Spinoza...

ezequiel-garzon 8y ago
Francis is not legit?
- brain5ide 8y ago
  Yeah. It was basically like Underwood in HoC.
zambal 8y ago
Spinoza didn't find refuge in the Netherlands, he was born there. His grandfather moved from Portugal to the Netherlands though.
- coliveira 8y ago
  I think this is in reference to his family moving due to religious persecution.
baldfat 8y ago
I never understand the idea that Spinoza was an atheist. Sure his ideas of God were not Judeo-Christian but he did believe in the super-natural that we see in action through nature. Spinoza was 100% a theist and wrote about God and advocated for the evidence of a God. I almost laugh when agnostics try to use him as their champion. They are ramming their own beliefs into this Philosopher that it is not respectful to Spignoza's writing. My example is since he saved Ethics to be released on his death why wasn't he clear on the rejection of God or place more on Deist statements? Prop. 28 "The mind's highest good is the knowledge of God, and the mind's highest virtue is to know God. ...The mind is not capable of understanding anything higher than God, that is, than a Being absolutely infinite, and without which nothing can either be or be conceived; therefore, the mind's highest utility or good is the knowledge of God. Again, the mind is active, only in so far as it understands, and only to the same extent can it be said absolutely to act virtuously. The mind's absolute virtue is therefore to understand."
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  Digression: I'm suspicious of philosophy because it throws around absolutes with nothing to back them. Like 'The mind is not capable of understanding blah blah'. Really? What is this supposition based upon? Its like saying there's a highest number we can understand - but what if we add 1 to that?
  - meric 8y ago
    By your definition once 1 is added it’s not a number we can understand.
    - Retra 8y ago
      Yes, but the claim is that there is such a number, not that it can be defined.
      - chrisvalleybay 8y ago
        A number is simply a state; a concept held by a state machine, such as a human. Numbers do not exist, but to the enumerator.
        Retra 8y ago
        Then it will be especially hard to argue that an inconceivable number exists.
  - baldfat 8y ago
    Welcome to philosophy and why we are still in this mess academically in the 21st Century. Welcome to philosophy's number one question. What can we base anything on? To Spinoza it is rationalism. Soren Kierkegaard (My son is named after him) there is nothing but faith that we must leap upon when we have no faith.
  - billybatson 8y ago
    Do you think that there is no limit to human understanding?
dEnigma 8y ago
The current pope is called Francis, or Franciscus.
krylon 8y ago
> medieval Europe He lived in the 1600s, that is not medieval, it's Renaissance. (Sorry for nitpicking.)
- NoB4Mouth 8y ago
  :) i'm fine with your nitpicking! I read Spinoza in high school - a decade+ back- the accuracy of timing is so porous. @ University i opted for Social Anthropology instead of Philosophy. I still have some remorse about that choice today...
  - krylon 8y ago
    FWIW, I did study Philosophy, but dropped out after just one semester. However I have not read anything written by Spinoza. He must have been an interesting person, though. In his day job, he created lenses that powered the first microscopes and the telescope(s) that Christiaan Huygens used to observe Saturn's rings. A true Renaissance man, indeed!
NoB4Mouth 8y ago
Edit: Pope Benedictus XVI served as Pope from 2005 to 2013. The current Pope is Francis. Bear with my ignorance of the world's current news. I don't watch TV, nor Facebook-too distractive-. I'm a Hacker News addict. I come here on average 5 times/day.

ezequiel-garzon 8y ago

Francis is not legit?

brain5ide 8y ago
Yeah. It was basically like Underwood in HoC.

zambal 8y ago

Spinoza didn't find refuge in the Netherlands, he was born there. His grandfather moved from Portugal to the Netherlands though.

coliveira 8y ago
I think this is in reference to his family moving due to religious persecution.

baldfat 8y ago

I never understand the idea that Spinoza was an atheist. Sure his ideas of God were not Judeo-Christian but he did believe in the super-natural that we see in action through nature. Spinoza was 100% a theist and wrote about God and advocated for the evidence of a God. I almost laugh when agnostics try to use him as their champion. They are ramming their own beliefs into this Philosopher that it is not respectful to Spignoza's writing. My example is since he saved Ethics to be released on his death why wasn't he clear on the rejection of God or place more on Deist statements? Prop. 28 "The mind's highest good is the knowledge of God, and the mind's highest virtue is to know God. ...The mind is not capable of understanding anything higher than God, that is, than a Being absolutely infinite, and without which nothing can either be or be conceived; therefore, the mind's highest utility or good is the knowledge of God. Again, the mind is active, only in so far as it understands, and only to the same extent can it be said absolutely to act virtuously. The mind's absolute virtue is therefore to understand."

JoeAltmaier 8y ago
Digression: I'm suspicious of philosophy because it throws around absolutes with nothing to back them. Like 'The mind is not capable of understanding blah blah'. Really? What is this supposition based upon? Its like saying there's a highest number we can understand - but what if we add 1 to that?
- meric 8y ago
  By your definition once 1 is added it’s not a number we can understand.
  - Retra 8y ago
    Yes, but the claim is that there is such a number, not that it can be defined.
    - chrisvalleybay 8y ago
      A number is simply a state; a concept held by a state machine, such as a human. Numbers do not exist, but to the enumerator.
      - Retra 8y ago
        Then it will be especially hard to argue that an inconceivable number exists.
- baldfat 8y ago
  Welcome to philosophy and why we are still in this mess academically in the 21st Century. Welcome to philosophy's number one question. What can we base anything on? To Spinoza it is rationalism. Soren Kierkegaard (My son is named after him) there is nothing but faith that we must leap upon when we have no faith.
- billybatson 8y ago
  Do you think that there is no limit to human understanding?

dEnigma 8y ago

The current pope is called Francis, or Franciscus.

krylon 8y ago

> medieval Europe He lived in the 1600s, that is not medieval, it's Renaissance. (Sorry for nitpicking.)

NoB4Mouth 8y ago
:) i'm fine with your nitpicking! I read Spinoza in high school - a decade+ back- the accuracy of timing is so porous. @ University i opted for Social Anthropology instead of Philosophy. I still have some remorse about that choice today...
- krylon 8y ago
  FWIW, I did study Philosophy, but dropped out after just one semester. However I have not read anything written by Spinoza. He must have been an interesting person, though. In his day job, he created lenses that powered the first microscopes and the telescope(s) that Christiaan Huygens used to observe Saturn's rings. A true Renaissance man, indeed!

NoB4Mouth 8y ago

Edit: Pope Benedictus XVI served as Pope from 2005 to 2013. The current Pope is Francis. Bear with my ignorance of the world's current news. I don't watch TV, nor Facebook-too distractive-. I'm a Hacker News addict. I come here on average 5 times/day.