Abstract

Harris presents Spinoza’s philosophy as an attempt to ground a total and coherent system of the universe that preserves the integrity and freedom of finite beings as modes of God the all inclusive Substance. Traditionally, Spinoza has perhaps been too often caricatured been as a sterile rationalist clinging adamantly to the priority of mathematical knowledge and its method of strict deduction. Harris rectifies this view by clarifying and reinterpreting his theory of knowledge, the metaphysical foundations of the concept of Substance, the discrepancies in the mind-body relationship, and he evaluates Spinoza’s ethical and political theories in light of his total enterprise.