Meaning in Spinoza's Method

Description

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 original and controversial book will be of interest to historians of philosophy and to anyone interested in the relation between form and content in philosophical works.

Aaron Garrett is Assistant Professor at Boston University. He has contributed to a number of publications and is the editor of Francis Hutcheson, An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections (2002) and Animal Rights and Souls in the Eighteenth Century (2000).

'... there are some very illuminating aspects of this book.' British Journal for the History of Philosophy 'In his book, Meaning in Spinoza's Method, Aaron Garrett's guiding aim is to investigate the connections between method and content in Spinoza's philosophy, and the results are stimulating and often surprising. ... I would say that this book is the most sustained and historically illuminating treatment of Spinoza's method of which I am aware. The range and depth of Garrett's survey of philosophers who influenced or may have influenced Spinoza on method is very impressive. ... [an] illuminating and fertile account of Spinoza's method.' Mind '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