Spinoza's correspondence: God and His attributes (Live Read)

"Let us then come together in unfeigned friendship, cultivating that friendship carefully with every kind of good will and service. What I in my weakness can provide you may consider yours. As for your gifts of mind, let me claim a share in them because that won’t involve any loss to you."

"I approve of your geometric style of proof, but I’m having trouble following the things you teach so exactly; no doubt it’s due to my stupidity."
(Oldenburg to Spinoza)

This discussion is not meant for specialists.
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We will read the first four letters of Spinoza's correspondence with Oldenburg (pp. 73 - 82 of this book - note that page numbers refer to the book not the PDF). The same letters can be found here, but note that they have unfortunatelly been abridged.

If time allows, we will also consult these essays of Leszek Kołakowski on Spinoza.

On Spinoza:

Nothing is less Greek than the conceptual web-spinning of a hermit—amor intellectualis dei—after the fashion of Spinoza. (Nietzsche)

Spinoza was a God intoxicated man. (Novalis)
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This group examines the history of Metaphysics by looking primarily at European thinkers in chronological order. Great effort is made to include lesser known thinkers whose thought has historical significance. We will occasionally examine non-European metaphysics too to provide context and comparison.

The organizer is not an expert on Metaphysics but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.

Our meeting time is: Tuesday 1 pm(Los Angeles)/4 pm (New York)/9 pm (London)