What can we say we know with certainty? What does it mean to say that we know something? How does knowledge differ from belief? Can an exploration of basic philosophical questions, such as How do we know what we know? and What are the limits of our understanding? inform our thinking not just on intellectual issues, but on broader cultural challenges as well?

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Epistemology of Spinoza

10 Thursday Afternoons, January 25 - July 11

 

Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order, usually known as the Ethics, is a philosophical treatise written in Latin by Baruch Spinoza. It was written between 1661 and 1675 and was first published posthumously in 1677. The book is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to apply the method of Euclid in philosophy. Spinoza puts forward a small number of definitions and axioms from which he attempts to derive hundreds of propositions and 
corollaries, such as "When the Mind imagines its own lack of power, it is saddened by it", "A free man thinks of nothing less than of death", and "The human Mind cannot be absolutely destroyed with the Body, but something of it remains which is eternal." Over ten afternoon online seminars, the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month, the series will cover:

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January 25: Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect (pp. 233 to 262)

February 8: Ethics, Part I, Propositions 1-15 (pp. 31-43)

February 22: Ethics, Part I, Propositions 1-15 (pp. 31-43) continued

April 11: Ethics, Part I, Propositions 16-36 and Appendix (pp. 43-62)

April 25: Ethics, Part II (pp. 63-101)

May 9: Ethics, Part II, Pr. 40 to end; Part III, Pr. 1-13 (pp. 88-112)

May 23: Ethics, Part III, Pr. 14-49 (pp. 112-132)

June 13: Ethics, Part III, Pr. 50-end; Part IV, Pr. 1-7 (pp. 132-158)

June 27: Ethics, Part IV, Pr. 8-end (pp. 158-200)

July 11: Ethics, Part V (pp. 201-223)

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Join us as we discuss these foundational works from Spinoza. This series continues a broader series on epistemology. All are welcome. Please join us even if this will be your first seminar in the series. 

 

Join us as we discuss these foundational works from Leibniz. This series continues a broader series on epistemology. All are welcome. Please join us even if this will be your first seminar in the series.