Free for eternity : Spinoza's philosophical eschatology
In this dissertation, I put forward an interpretation of Spinoza's seemingly intractable notion of the 'eternity of the mind', an enduring puzzle in the history of early modern philosophy. The originality of my contribution will lie in the use that I make of Spinoza's philosophy of freedom as a key to unlock what he meant by this notion. By presenting Spinoza as a philosopher who was genuinely concerned with human salvation and the need to provide an adequate response to the existential predicament posed bu human mortality, I begin b motivating a serious engagement with this aspect of his thought. After presenting a critical history of prior engagements with the question, from Spinoza's own time up until the recent efforts that make up the status quaetionis, I proceed to examine he various philosophical elements out of which his eschatology is composed, tracing their development through his intellectual career, and subjecting them to critical scrutiny. I argue for what I call a 'qualitative' reading of Spinoza's conception of eternity, and therefore also that the eternity of the mind described in Ethics V should be understood as a form of 'realised eschatology', in virtue of its implicit subversion of the
Misiewicz, Michael Andrzej
Free for eternity : Spinoza's philosophical eschatology. In this dissertation, I put forward an interpretation of Spinoza's seemingly intractable notion of the 'eternity of the mind', an enduring puzzle in the history of early modern philosophy. The originality of my contribution will lie in the use that I make of Spinoza's philosophy of freedom as a key to unlock what he meant by this notion. By presenting Spinoza as a philosopher who was genuinely concerned with human salvation and the need to provide an adequate response to the existential predicament posed bu human mortality, I begin b motivating a serious engagement with this aspect of his thought. After presenting a critical history of prior engagements with the question, from Spinoza's own time up until the recent efforts that make up the status quaetionis, I proceed to examine he various philosophical elements out of which his eschatology is composed, tracing their development through his intellectual career, and subjecting them to critical scrutiny. I argue for what I call a 'qualitative' reading of Spinoza's conception of eternity, and therefore also that the eternity of the mind described in Ethics V should be understood as a form of 'realised eschatology', in virtue of its implicit subversion of the
free eternity spinoza philosophical eschatology put_forward interpretation spinoza seemingly intractable notion eternity mind endure puzzle history early_modern philosophy originality lie use make spinoza philosophy freedom key unlock meant notion present spinoza philosopher genuinely concern human salvation need provide_adequate response existential predicament pose human mortality begin motivate serious engagement aspect thought present critical_history prior engagement question spinoza time recent effort_make status proceed examine_various philosophical element eschatology compose trace_development intellectual career subject critical scrutiny argue call qualitative reading spinoza conception eternity therefore also eternity mind describe ethics understand form realised eschatology virtue implicit subversion