In July 1656, the young philosopher Baruch Spinoza was cast out of his Jewish community for “abominable heresies”. We don’t know what those crimes were, but we do know that Spinoza has remained a polarising figure within Judaism ever since. On one hand, his philosophy is atheistic, based on the complete rejection of any notion of a sovereign or even conscious God. On the other hand, he’s often hailed as one of the founding figures of progressive Judaism – even as a hero of Zionism. Spinoza is a puzzle, and this week we’re putting some of the pieces together.
Listen to the program on The Philosopher’s Zone with David Rutledge.
[There is also an article The Jewish philosopher Spinoza was one of the great Enlightenment thinkers. So why was he ‘cancelled’? to be found on the The Philisopher’s Zone about Spinoza.]