Spinoza's Heresy Immortality and the Jewish Mind [Hardcover]

Why was the great philosopher Spinoza expelled from his Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam? Nadler's investigation of this simple question gives fascinating new perspectives on Spinoza's thought and the Jewish religious and philosophical tradition from which it arose.

1.Cheremin Amsterdam
2. Abominations and Heresies
3. Patriarchs, Prophets, and Rabbis
4. The Philosophers
5. Eternity and Immortality
6. The Life of Reason
7. Immortality on the Amstel
Conclusion
Notes; Bibliography; Index

Nadler's project is intriguing because it takes us right into the heart of the most difficult and interesting parts of Spinoza's philosophy, as well as into the thick of the historical milieu in which the expulsion took place and which helped shape Spinoza's intellectual development....Nadler does an excellent job of summarizing and synthesizing a vast body of literature into an accessible and plausible narrative....In short, Nadler's book is an admirable piece of work. It relates Spinoza's thought to a wide variety of contexts, each of which enrich our understanding of Spinoza. It is clearly written and highly readable, continuing the story begun in Nadler's earlierSpinoza: A Life. It will be mandatory reading for students of Spinoza, as well as for students of Jewish thought and history more generally. --Martin Lin,Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Steven Nadler is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.