True Freedom: Spinoza's Practical Philosophy

by Brent Adkins

Overview

True Freedom: Spinoza's Practical Philosophy is a straightforward presentation of Spinoza's philosophy focused on the issue of how one might live. The book is unique among recent Spinoza scholarship in the way in which it centers on the ethical component in Spinoza's work. In order to bring Spinoza's ethics to the fore, Brent Adkins begin with what he considers to be Spinoza's fundamental ethical insight: namely, that emotions are controlled by understanding them. Adkins reveals how the process of unfolding Spinoza's philosophy is always anchored in the very practical issue of living well.

The significance of True Freedom lies in its understanding of Spinoza's ethics as an "experimentalism" and its accessibility to a very wide audience. Despite the fact that Spinoza died over 300 years ago, his writings remain remarkably prescient for a wide variety of disciplines, from religion to neuroscience. The source of this prescience, however, comes from Spinoza's recasting ethical theory in terms of how we might live rather than in terms of how we should live. Freedom in every aspect of life from the personal to the political to the religious is dependent on a particular way of engaging with the world. This engagement takes the form of an experiment to see if what we engage with results in an increase or a decrease in our capacity to affect and be affected by the world. True freedom, for Spinoza, lies in increasing our capacities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739139394
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	10/09/2009
Pages:	114
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Brent Adkins is associate professor of philosophy at Roanoke College.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Spinoza: A User's Guide
Chapter 2 Chapter 1: The Curious Incident of the Rude Driver in the SUV
Chapter 3 Chapter 2: What's Love Got to do with It?
Chapter 4 Chapter 3: On not being oneself, or the Shmoopy Effect
Chapter 5 Chapter 4: The Big Picture
Chapter 6 Chapter 5: What is Mind? No matter. What is Matter? Never mind.
Chapter 7 Chapter 6: True Freedom
Chapter 8 Chapter 7: Bodies in Motion
Chapter 9 Chapter 8: The Body Politic
Chapter 10 Chapter 9: Religion
Chapter 11 Chapter 10: The Environment
Chapter 12 Conclusion: How to be a Spinozist in Three Easy Steps

Editorial Reviews

A real strength of True Freedom is that it does not water down Spinoza’s views beyond recognition in order to make them accessible. As a Spinoza specialist and a professor, I gleaned some really good ideas from the manuscript about how to present and explain some of Spinoza’s more difficult ideas without completely losing my students. I could recommend the book to other specialists and teachers of early modern philosophy as a source of helpful pedagogical approaches.

J. Thomas Cook Cook