A Close Reading of Spinoza's Ethics (Pre-Read)

This will be our second meeting. In the first meeting we didn't get beyond the definitions at the beginning of Part 1, and so, at this meeting, Robert will lead a discussion of the last 4 definitions, and Blake will offer an introduction to the axioms, and then we will have a general discussion of the opening propositions, up to perhaps Proposition 15.
We will be using Jitsi, and the link will appear on this webpage an hour before the meeting begins. This will not be a live reading, but we will often make specific references to the text, and so everyone should have a copy of the text during the meeting.

Although there are several translations of Spinoza's Ethics into English, the following two are freely available and recommended.

Shirley's translation uses better English idioms and is easier to read.([https://homepages.uc.edu/~martinj/Spinoza_&_Hobbes/English/Spinoza%20-%20Complete%20Works%20(2002).pdf](https://homepages.uc.edu/~martinj/Spinoza_&_Hobbes/English/Spinoza%20-%20Complete%20Works%20(2002).pdf))

Curley's translation is more literal and the academic standard. (https://archive.org/details/benedictus-de-spinoza-the-collected-works-of-spinoza-complete-digital-edition-by/mode/2up)

About the text:

A profoundly beautiful and uniquely insightful description of the universe, Benedict de Spinoza's Ethics is one of the masterpieces of Enlightenment-era philosophy. Published shortly after his death, the Ethics is undoubtedly Spinoza's greatest work — an elegant, fully cohesive cosmology derived from first principles, providing a coherent picture of reality, and a guide to the meaning of an ethical life. Following a logical step-by-step format, it defines in turn the nature of God, the mind, the emotions, human bondage to the emotions, and the power of understanding — moving from a consideration of the eternal, to speculate upon humanity's place in the natural order, the nature of freedom and the path to attainable happiness. A powerful work of elegant simplicity, the Ethics is a brilliantly insightful consideration of the possibility of redemption through intense thought and philosophical reflection. (Penguin)