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A review by couuboy
Ethics by Baruch Spinoza
5.0
Submitted my MA thesis all of 10 minutes ago in which I wrote about Spinoza & Literature. I shan't properly update this review until marking comes back but rest assured I have many opinions about this wonderful little book
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Third read cover to cover wahoo :)
*Caillou voice* Each day I grow some more
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(Review after first read)
The pros and cons of peeking through the curtains:
Pro - At last you'll find out what's outside.
Con - At last you'll find out what's outside.
In Ethics, Spinoza constructs a comprehensive system of reality and reason with the foundation of joy as the most beneficial pursuit (and sadness as the least).
I'm incredibly impressed at Spinoza's cunningness(?) to write a book wherein anyone who reads it in its entirety will probably have a generally positive appraisal given an implicit proposition that runs through much of part 3 onwards "anyone who reads this book is likely very smart and full of the type of joy that is next to godliness".
Regardless of any intellectual ego stroking that may or may not be present in this book, Ethics is an incredibly well put together text that deserves all the endurance it's had and more.
I'd tried to read this book twice in the past but could never make it past 15 odd pages, even now I think part 1 is rather harder to read than 2-5 put together - but there is a distinct bliss that sticks around after grinding through the initial geometric writings of part 1.
There are so many moments in this text where it feels like numerous lightbulbs were going off in succession symbolising the revelations I felt upon comprehending the propositions and this is where the geometric style is integral in maintaining the cohesively sound analysis, it was like Spinoza was saying, "hey by the way, remember that weird proposition I said 40 pages ago? well, here's how that proves why we all feel and know by experience that we are eternal (P.S. You are God).".
There's a Jenny Holzer truism that goes "In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy." I've always felt that 'dream' could be swapped out for 'book' and it would be more relevant to my personal experience and Spinoza's Ethics has certainly found its place in this category.
------------
Third read cover to cover wahoo :)
*Caillou voice* Each day I grow some more
------------
(Review after first read)
The pros and cons of peeking through the curtains:
Pro - At last you'll find out what's outside.
Con - At last you'll find out what's outside.
In Ethics, Spinoza constructs a comprehensive system of reality and reason with the foundation of joy as the most beneficial pursuit (and sadness as the least).
I'm incredibly impressed at Spinoza's cunningness(?) to write a book wherein anyone who reads it in its entirety will probably have a generally positive appraisal given an implicit proposition that runs through much of part 3 onwards "anyone who reads this book is likely very smart and full of the type of joy that is next to godliness".
Regardless of any intellectual ego stroking that may or may not be present in this book, Ethics is an incredibly well put together text that deserves all the endurance it's had and more.
I'd tried to read this book twice in the past but could never make it past 15 odd pages, even now I think part 1 is rather harder to read than 2-5 put together - but there is a distinct bliss that sticks around after grinding through the initial geometric writings of part 1.
There are so many moments in this text where it feels like numerous lightbulbs were going off in succession symbolising the revelations I felt upon comprehending the propositions and this is where the geometric style is integral in maintaining the cohesively sound analysis, it was like Spinoza was saying, "hey by the way, remember that weird proposition I said 40 pages ago? well, here's how that proves why we all feel and know by experience that we are eternal (P.S. You are God).".
There's a Jenny Holzer truism that goes "In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy." I've always felt that 'dream' could be swapped out for 'book' and it would be more relevant to my personal experience and Spinoza's Ethics has certainly found its place in this category.