Spinoza's Metaphysics: An Essay in Interpretation

“This valuable study presents a provocative and genuinely original interpretation of Spinoza. Writing in a style that is both clear and elegant, E. M. Curley takes a fresh look at the fundamental tenets of Spinoza’s metaphysics and reconstructs them with thoughtful precision. He introduces his work with an analysis of the serious disagreement among Spinoza scholars regarding matters of basic interpretation and shows the weaknesses of two of the most prominent lines of interpretation, those of H. H. Joachim and H. A. Wolfson.He then explains his own novel and quite radical interpretation of Spinoza’s metaphysics. Couching his argument largely in the language of twentieth-century philosophy, he focuses on four doctrines: that every finite thing is a mode of the one substance, that God is the cause of all things, that every truth is a necessary truth, and that a mode of thought and its corresponding mode of expression are the same. In a study that is both an explanation and a defense of Spinozism, Mr. Curley not only clarifies abstruse elements of the Spinozistic system but also offers intriguing interpretations of the contemporary views he employs to explain Spinoza’s intentions.”- Publisher