Spinoza
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loginIn offering this comprehensive account of Spinoza’s philosophicalthought, I have in mind those coming to Spinoza for thefirst time.I hope to be able to kindle in these readers the same joy I felt onbeing introduced to Spinoza more than 25 years ago. I believe that Ihave found a key—in the shape of the Principle of SufficientReason—that will go a very long way toward making Spinoza’sthought both more accessible and exciting. At the same time, Ihope that this work will also be of real interest to scholars, philo-sophers, and advanced students. Because the book is designed toserve as an introduction to Spinoza, I do not engage the secondaryliterature directly in any extensive way, but my thinking isobviously very much informed by and indebted to recent and not-so-recent scholarly debates. Rethinking Spinoza in light of thePrinciple of Sufficient Reason promises to be important not onlyfor our understanding of Spinoza, but also for our understanding ofthe philosophical issues Spinoza deals with and that continue totrouble philosophers today. The contemporary debates over theseissues suffer, in my opinion, from a lack of systematic attention tothe power of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. This book is notonly about Spinoza, but it is in the spirit of Spinoza for it takes onestep toward addressing that lack.
