Baruch Spinoza was one of the most radical and influential philosophers of the modern era. This course explores his ideas about the nature of reality, the human mind, emotions, ethics and political life. We examine how Spinoza challenged religious authority and reimagined freedom, reason and happiness. Presented in an accessible way, the course suits anyone curious about philosophy and ideas that continue to shape modern thought.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face / Online

COURSE OUTLINE

• Introduction to Concepts: His philosophy of human mental states is rich and well ahead of its time; it influenced many later thinkers.
• Psychology: Striving and Self-preservation. ‘Conatus’ is a linchpin term for Spinoza it entails our striving in the world and our power of acting effectively to achieve our self-preservation and flourishing.
• Emotional states: He considers desire, joy, love, sadness and hate. Joy for him is the transition of the mind to a greater power.
• Ethics: Spinoza has been described in many different ways: as a pragmatist, hedonist, egoist, determinist, religious moralist; some of these positions a paradoxical. We will examine his Ethics and work out his theory, which does indeed encompass some unusual crossovers.
• Correlating the notion of freedom with the idea of ‘goodness’ this means that his political philosophy and his ethics are dependent on each other.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Discuss the main events of Spinoza’s life and times
2. Understand the important concepts in his philosophy
3. Relate his theory to personal ethical decisions
4. Understand their own emotions in more depth
5. Relate his theory to contemporary issues in ethics and politics