Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus
In this contribution, I discuss some less well-known premodern and early modern antecedents of Spinoza’s concepts and claims in the <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i>. On the one hand, I will argue, Spinoza’s notion of prophecy owes more to Moses Maimonides than to any Christian autho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Philosophies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/2/51 |
| _version_ | 1797225896758738944 |
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| author | Michiel Leezenberg |
| author_facet | Michiel Leezenberg |
| author_sort | Michiel Leezenberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this contribution, I discuss some less well-known premodern and early modern antecedents of Spinoza’s concepts and claims in the <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i>. On the one hand, I will argue, Spinoza’s notion of prophecy owes more to Moses Maimonides than to any Christian author; and through Maimonides, Spinoza may be linked to the discussion of prophecy in <i>The Virtuous City</i> by the tenth-century Islamic philosopher al-Farabî. Spinoza’s concern with prophecy as a popular formulation of the Divine Law may be fruitfully seen in the light of these two authors. On the other hand, Spinoza’s notion of <i>pietas</i> has arguably been shaped by a number of early modern authors from the Low Countries, including Thomas a Kempis and Erasmus: it does not consist in merely obeying the law, but also has a clear devotional and theist dimension of love for God and for one’s neighbors. As such, it may be associated with recent ideas on philosophy and spiritual exercises. These findings have a number of non-trivial implications for Spinoza’s place in the rise of modern, academic Western philosophy. I will discuss these implications in the context of Pierre Hadot’s influential views on philosophy as a way of life and Michel Foucault’s notion of spirituality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:14:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81e17b16c63d4ef9a80486776021b304 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2409-9287 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:16:18Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Philosophies |
| spelling | doaj.art-81e17b16c63d4ef9a80486776021b3042024-04-03T08:40:02ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872021-06-01625110.3390/philosophies6020051Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and ErasmusMichiel Leezenberg0Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The NetherlandsIn this contribution, I discuss some less well-known premodern and early modern antecedents of Spinoza’s concepts and claims in the <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i>. On the one hand, I will argue, Spinoza’s notion of prophecy owes more to Moses Maimonides than to any Christian author; and through Maimonides, Spinoza may be linked to the discussion of prophecy in <i>The Virtuous City</i> by the tenth-century Islamic philosopher al-Farabî. Spinoza’s concern with prophecy as a popular formulation of the Divine Law may be fruitfully seen in the light of these two authors. On the other hand, Spinoza’s notion of <i>pietas</i> has arguably been shaped by a number of early modern authors from the Low Countries, including Thomas a Kempis and Erasmus: it does not consist in merely obeying the law, but also has a clear devotional and theist dimension of love for God and for one’s neighbors. As such, it may be associated with recent ideas on philosophy and spiritual exercises. These findings have a number of non-trivial implications for Spinoza’s place in the rise of modern, academic Western philosophy. I will discuss these implications in the context of Pierre Hadot’s influential views on philosophy as a way of life and Michel Foucault’s notion of spirituality.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/2/51SpinozaJewish philosophyIslamic philosophyprophecyspiritual exercises |
| spellingShingle | Michiel Leezenberg Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus Philosophies Spinoza Jewish philosophy Islamic philosophy prophecy spiritual exercises |
| title | Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus |
| title_full | Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus |
| title_fullStr | Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus |
| title_short | Of Prophecy and Piety: Spinoza’s <i>Tractatus Theologico-Politicus</i> between al-Farabî and Erasmus |
| title_sort | of prophecy and piety spinoza s i tractatus theologico politicus i between al farabi and erasmus |
| topic | Spinoza Jewish philosophy Islamic philosophy prophecy spiritual exercises |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/2/51 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michielleezenberg ofprophecyandpietyspinozasitractatustheologicopoliticusibetweenalfarabianderasmus |