A Companion to Spinoza

An unparalleled collection of original essays on Benedict de Spinoza's contributions to philosophy and his enduring legacy
 
A Companion to Spinoza presents a panoramic view of contemporary Spinoza studies in Europe and across the Anglo-American world. Designed to stimulate fresh dialogue between the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy, this extraordinary volume brings together 53 original essays that explore Spinoza's contributions to Western philosophy and intellectual history. A diverse team of established and emerging international scholars discuss new themes and classic topics to provide a uniquely comprehensive picture of one of the most influential metaphysicians of all time.
 
Rather than simply summarizing the body of existing scholarship, the Companion develops new ideas, examines cutting-edge scholarship, and suggests directions for future research. The text is structured around six thematically-organized sections, exploring Spinoza's life and background, his contributions to metaphysics and natural philosophy, his epistemology, politics, ethics, and aesthetics, the reception of Spinoza in the work of philosophers such as Kant, Schelling, Schopenhauer, and Hegel, and more. This unparalleled research collection combines a timely overview of the current state of research with deep coverage of Spinoza's philosophy, legacy, and influence.
 
Part of the celebrated Blackwell Companions to Philosophy series, A Companion to Spinoza is an ideal text for advanced courses in modern philosophy, intellectual history, and the history of metaphysics, and an indispensable reference for researchers and scholars in Spinoza studies.

List of contents

Notes on Contributors xi
List of Abbreviations xvii
Introduction xix
Yitzhak Y. Melamed
Part I Life and Background 1
1 Spinoza's Life 3
Piet Steenbakkers
2 Spinoza Philology 15
Piet Steenbakkers
3 Avicenna and Spinoza on Essence and Existence 30
Stephen R. Ogden
4 Spinoza and Maimonides on True Religion 41
Warren Zev Harvey
5 Spinoza and Scholastic Philosophy 47
Emanuele Costa
6 Spinoza and Descartes 56
Denis Kambouchner
7 Spinoza's Dutch Philosophical Background 68
Henri Krop Copyrighted Material
8 Spinoza and Hobbes 81
Michael LeBuffe
Part II Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy 93
9 Spinoza's Monistic Metaphysics of Substance and Mode 95
Don Garrett
10 Spinoza and Eternity 108
Pierre¿François Moreau
11 Spinoza on Causa Sui 116
Yitzhak Y. Melamed
12 Spinoza's Physical Picture 126
John Carriero
13 Spinoza's Mereology 135
Tad M. Schmaltz
14 Spinoza's Metaphysics of Time 144
Raphael Krut¿Landau
15 Spinoza's Infinities 158
Luce deLire
16 Spinoza on Diachronic Identity 170
Dominik Perler
17 Spinoza on Relations 179
Zachary Gartenberg
18 Spinoza on Numerical Identity and Time 189
John Morrison
19 Spinoza on Universals 204
Karolina Hübner
20 Spinoza's Ontology of Power 214
Juan Manuel Ledesma Viteri
21 Spinoza's Modal Theory 222
Olli Koistinen
22 Spinoza on Determination 231
Noa Shein
23 Spinoza's Physics 240
Alison Peterman
Part III Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Psychology 251
24 Spinoza on Human and Divine Knowledge 253
Ursula Renz and Barnaby R. Hutchins
25 Reflective Knowledge 265
Kristin Primus
26 Spinoza Against the Skeptics 276
Stephan Schmid
27 Spinoza on Ideas of Affections 286
Lia Levy
28 The Mind¿Body Union 296
Chantal Jaquet
29 Spinoza's Non¿Theory of Non¿Consciousness 304
Daniel Garber
30 Spinoza on the Passions and the Self 328
Andrea Sangiacomo
31 The Serpent and the Dove: Spinoza's Two Paths to Enlightenment 338
Michah Gottlieb
Part IV Ethics, Politics, and Religion 349
32 Spinoza's Moral Philosophy 351
Steven Nadler
33 Spinoza on the Constitution of Animal Species 365
Susan James
34 Essence, Virtue and the State 375
Erin Islo
35 Law and Dissolution of Law in Spinoza 384
Pina Totaro
36 Spinoza's Notion of Freedom 394
Moira Gatens
37 Spinoza's "Republican Idea of Freedom" 402
Michael A. Rosenthal
38 Spinoza and Economics 410
Eric Schliesser
39 Spinoza and Feminism 422
Hasana Sharp
40 Spinoza and International Law 431
Moa De Lucia Dahlbeck
41 The Intellectual Love of God 440
Clare Carlisle
42 Spinoza and Scripture 449
Dan Arbib
Part V Aesthetics and Language 463
43 Spinoza's Aesthetics 465
Domenica G. Romagni
44 Following Traces in the Sand: Spinoza on Semiotics 474
Lorenzo Vinciguerra
45 Spinoza and the Grammar of the Hebrew Language 483
Guadalupe González Diéguez
Part VI Spinoza's Reception 493
46 Leibniz and Spinoza on Plenitude and Necessity 495
Jean¿Pascal Anfray
47 Spinoza in France, ca. 1670-1970 506
Mogens Lærke
48 Kant and Spinoza 517
Colin Marshall
49 Nietzsche and Spinoza 527
Jason M. Yonover
¿50 Schelling with Spinoza on Freedom 538
Daniel Dragicévic
51 Hegel on Spinozism and the Beginning of Philosophy 548
José María Sánchez de León Serrano
52 Schopenhauer's Critique of Spinoza's Pantheism, Optimism, and Egoism 557
Mor Segev
53 Spinoza and Popular Philosophy 568
Jack Stetter Index 579

About the author

Yitzhak Y. Melamed is the Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He works at the intersection of philosophy, Jewish and religious studies, the history of science, and contemporary metaphysics. He has been awarded the ACLS-Burkhardt, NEH, Fulbright, and Mellon Fellowships. He is the author of Spinoza's Metaphysics: Substance and Thought (2015), and a large number of studies on early modern philosophy, medieval philosophy, and German idealism.

Summary

An unparalleled collection of original essays on Benedict de Spinoza's contributions to philosophy and his enduring legacy

A Companion to Spinoza presents a panoramic view of contemporary Spinoza studies in Europe and across the Anglo-American world. Designed to stimulate fresh dialogue between the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy, this extraordinary volume brings together 53 original essays that explore Spinoza's contributions to Western philosophy and intellectual history. A diverse team of established and emerging international scholars discuss new themes and classic topics to provide a uniquely comprehensive picture of one of the most influential metaphysicians of all time.

Rather than simply summarizing the body of existing scholarship, the Companion develops new ideas, examines cutting-edge scholarship, and suggests directions for future research. The text is structured around six thematically-organized sections, exploring Spinoza's life and background, his contributions to metaphysics and natural philosophy, his epistemology, politics, ethics, and aesthetics, the reception of Spinoza in the work of philosophers such as Kant, Schelling, Schopenhauer, and Hegel, and more. This unparalleled research collection combines a timely overview of the current state of research with deep coverage of Spinoza's philosophy, legacy, and influence.

Part of the celebrated Blackwell Companions to Philosophy series, A Companion to Spinoza is an ideal text for advanced courses in modern philosophy, intellectual history, and the history of metaphysics, and an indispensable reference for researchers and scholars in Spinoza studies.

Report

"My general impression is that this is a very well thought out proposal, bringing together some of the finest established experts and some of the most promising younger scholars on the subject. I fully concur with Melamed's assessment of the recent interest among Anglophone philosophers in metaphysics being a major asset for a renewed focus on Spinoza in the US. I am also in agreement with Melamed's views on the possible market for a Blackwell Companion to Spinoza. In my experience students tend to prefer Companions, Guides, Readers, and what have you to your average edited volume, and they're right, of course. This particular Companion appears to cover nearly all the truly essential aspects of Spinoza's work, so should Blackwell be able to keep the volume affordable, I have no doubt it will sell really well. To tell you the truth I would be amazed to find out Blackwell would not accept this extremely convincing proposal: both the editor and the authors involved are ideally suited to produce this volume."
 
Wiep van Bunge, Erasmus University Rotterdam
 

 
"Yitzhak Y. Melamed is one of the leading historians of philosophy of the new generation. His work on Spinoza is well known and highly respected. Notably, Melamed is doing ground-breaking work on Spinoza and German idealism, and on Spinoza and Jewish thought. These aspects of his work are visible as welcome, distinctive features of this book proposal. What he has already accomplished as an editor suggests that he will be excellent in overseeing this project and shepherding it to completion. There seems to be space in the market for another Companion / Handbook on Spinoza. I expect that several chapters included in the volume could become required reading in UG and PG courses. The volume as whole is likely to be a recommended text."
 
Maria Rosa Antognazza, King's College London
 

 
"The organization and coverage is excellent. My guess is that all academic libraries will want to have a copy of this book as will specialists and teachers of early modern philosophy. I can imagine teachers assigning a particular chapter or other if it were made available as an electronic resource (so that students could access a particular chapter without buying the whole work). I have no doubt that Yitzhak is the ideal person to edit this volume. He certainly has the ability and is well situated to bring this project to completion. He also has an impressive track record of shepherding editorial projects. If you could waive a magic wand and pick anyone to edit this volume, I'd recommend picking him."
 
Jeff McDonough, Harvard University

Product details

• Authors: Yitzhak Y. (Johns Hopkins University) Melamed, YY Melamed
• Assisted by: Yitzhak Y. Melamed (Editor), Melamed Yitzhak Y. (Editor)
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 18.09.2025
• EAN: 9781119538677
• ISBN: 978-1-119-53867-7
• No. of pages: 520
• Series: Blackwell Companions to Philosophy
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; Geschichte, Philosophie, Judentum, History, Philosophy, Judaism, Geschichte des Judentums, Religion & Theology, Religion u. Theologie, Philosophie des 17. u. 18. Jhd., 17th & 18th Century Philosophy, History of Judaism, Spinoza, Baruch de