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Spinoza, the Epicurean - (Spinoza Studies) by Dimitris Vardoulakis (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- By radically re-reading the 'Theological Political Treatise', Dimitris Vardoulakis argues that Spinoza's Epicurean influence has profound implications for his conception of politics and ontology.
- About the Author: Dimitris Vardoulakis is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.
- 368 Pages
- Philosophy, History & Surveys
- Series Name: Spinoza Studies
Description
About the Book
By radically re-reading the 'Theological Political Treatise', Dimitris Vardoulakis argues that Spinoza's Epicurean influence has profound implications for his conception of politics and ontology. This reconsideration of Spinoza's political project, set within a historical context, lays the ground for an alternative genealogy of materialism.
Book Synopsis
By radically re-reading the 'Theological Political Treatise', Dimitris Vardoulakis argues that Spinoza's Epicurean influence has profound implications for his conception of politics and ontology. This reconsideration of Spinoza's political project, set within a historical context, lays the ground for an alternative genealogy of materialism.
From the Back Cover
Through a radical new reading of the Theological Political Treatise, Dimitris Vardoulakis argues that the Epicurean influence on Spinoza has profound implications for his conception of politics and ontology. This reconsideration of Spinoza's political project, set within a historical context, lays the ground for an alternative genealogy of materialism. Vardoulakis shows that the major source of Spinoza's materialism is the Epicurean tradition that re-emerges in modernity when manuscripts by Epicurus and Lucretius are rediscovered. Central to this new reading of Spinoza are the theory of practical judgment, understood as the calculation of utility, and its implications for a theory of democracy that is resolutely positioned against authority. A new image of Spinoza emerges highlighting his relevance in the history of philosophy and our world today. Dimitris Vardoulakis is Associate Professor in Philosophy at Western Sydney University.Review Quotes
An engagingly provocative and suggestive contribution to contemporary political theory and philosophy. [...] Summing Up: Recommended.--D. A. Forbes, West Chester University of Pennsylvania "CHOICE"
An important contribution to Spinoza scholarship and to understanding the influence of Epicureanism in modern philosophy. Vardoulakis offers a fascinating account of the dynamic interaction of Epicurean themes within Spinoza's thought. The book yields fresh insight into the upshot of Spinoza's monism and into the complexities of his version of reason.--Genevieve Lloyd, The University of New South Wales
Never have I seen the dialectical principle of the unity of opposites carried on to such extremities in the reading of Spinoza's political and religious philosophy, with so much imagination, precision, and illuminating results. A once in a generation breakthrough, whose importance goes well beyond the history of past ideas, to opening roads for judgement in the present.--Etienne Balibar, author of Spinoza, the Transindividual
Vardoulakis succeeds in showing that, despite the near absence of direct references to Epicurean philosophy, Spinoza's works can be seen as drawing frequently from this tradition to confront the problems it has identified as central. Vardoulakis' emphasis on authority and, especially, utility illuminate Spinoza's treatment of these concepts in a way few other studies have succeeded in doing.--Warren Montag, Occidental College
Vardoulakis' magnificent book provides a very much needed new commentary of Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise as well as new, fresh insights on his materialism. This book is already a classic and a must-read for anybody interested in Spinoza's philosophy.--Chiara Bottici, The New School for Social Research
About the Author
Dimitris Vardoulakis is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He is the author of The Doppelgänger: Literature's Philosophy (Fordham University Press, 2010), Sovereignty and its Other: Toward the Dejustification of Violence (Fordham UP, 2013), Freedom from the Free Will: On Kafka's Laughter (SUNY, 2016) and Stasis Before the State: Nine Theses on Agonistic Democracy (Fordham University Press, 2018). He has also edited or co-edited numerous books, including Spinoza Now(University of Minnesota Press, 2011) and Spinoza's Authority (2 volumes, Bloomsbury, 2018). He is the director of "Thinking Out Loud: The Sydney Lectures in Philosophy and Society" and is co-series editor of Incitements at Edinburgh University Press.