Pre-Kantian Rationalism: Spinoza

In this seminar we study aspects of Spinoza's philosophy relevant to the German philosophical tradition (including his monism, his identifying power and right, and more), and then closely examine some key episodes in that tradition's engagement with Spinoza. Among other things, we consider here the early reception of Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise, Leibniz's response to Spinoza's necessitarianism, Hegel's critique of Spinoza's metaphysics, and Nietzsche's embrace of Spinoza's anti-anthropocentrism.