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niconorico's review
challenging
slow-paced
2.25
Like a lot of folks, I was raised christian and was required to attend church long after I had renounced its doctrines. Spinoza had a similar experience. To both of us, it has long been clear that God exists insofar as they are believed to exist, and insofar as all reference to God is reference to Being—an interconnected unity of all Substance. Having been made aware of this agreement through one comrade and so many authors' mentions of Spinoza, this was required reading for me.
But even going into this read agreeing with the core of what the author presents did not lighten the load this book heaves on its readers in so many Proofs and Corrolaries. See, Spinoza, a Cartesian, has an obsession with the concept of Reason, particularly expressed through geometry. This obsession created a felt need for Spinoza to express his ideas in the form of geometric Proofs, Propositions, Corollaries and Scholisms, and this greatly detracts from the quality of the book. It has the misfortune of being designed as a textbook to be studied slowly and methodically under tutelage, and this textbook is over 300 years old, making it an absolute slog to get through.
In short, this can be an exhausting read. Maybe consider just reading the Propositions and/or a summary somewhere.
But even going into this read agreeing with the core of what the author presents did not lighten the load this book heaves on its readers in so many Proofs and Corrolaries. See, Spinoza, a Cartesian, has an obsession with the concept of Reason, particularly expressed through geometry. This obsession created a felt need for Spinoza to express his ideas in the form of geometric Proofs, Propositions, Corollaries and Scholisms, and this greatly detracts from the quality of the book. It has the misfortune of being designed as a textbook to be studied slowly and methodically under tutelage, and this textbook is over 300 years old, making it an absolute slog to get through.
In short, this can be an exhausting read. Maybe consider just reading the Propositions and/or a summary somewhere.
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