When and where was Baruch Spinoza born?
Baruch Spinoza was born on the 24th of November 1632 into a house on the Houtgracht canal in Amsterdam. The street sat on an artificial island called the Vlooienburg.
Baruch Spinoza was born on the 24th of November 1632 into a house on the Houtgracht canal in Amsterdam. The street sat on an artificial island called the Vlooienburg.
Community leaders issued a writ of herem against Baruch Spinoza on the 27th of July 1656 because his actions were described as abominable heresies and monstrous deeds without stating specific reasons. The censure likely involved his growing criticism of Judaism and violated synagogue regulations regarding business disputes.
Franciscus van den Enden taught Baruch Spinoza Latin between 1654 and 1657 and introduced him to scholastic philosophy and modern thinkers like René Descartes. Van den Enden was a former Jesuit and self-described atheist who hosted classes where Spinoza learned arts and sciences.
The phrase Deus sive Natura encapsulated Baruch Spinoza's view that the whole natural universe consists of one single infinite self-caused eternal substance. He defined this substance as God or Nature while everything else represents modifications or modes dependent on it.
Baruch Spinoza published the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus in 1670 using a false place of publication to avoid persecution. His friend Adriaan Koerbagh had faced imprisonment for criticizing organized religion so Spinoza anticipated similar reactions from theologians.