Steven Nadler on Spinoza on Death

Philosophy Bites

Nigel Warburton

Education, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2020

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Baruch Spinoza was perhaps most famous for his equation of God with Nature - a view that his contemporaries, probably correctly, took to be atheist. But what did he think about death? Steven Nadler, author of A Book Forged in Hell and Think Least of Death, discusses this aspect of his thought with Nigel Warburton.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Philosophy Bites with me Nigel Warburton and me David Edmonds.
0:07.0	If you enjoy Philosophy Bites please support us.
0:10.0	We are currently unfunded and all donations would be gratefully received.
0:14.0	For details go to W.W. philosophy bites.
0:18.0	The Dutch philosopher Bewuktros Spinoza died in 1677 aged only 44. He had a lung disease possibly linked to his professional
0:27.8	work as a lens grinder. His great book, The Ethics, was published only posthumously.
0:34.0	Death, says Stephen Nadler, was a topic that had long preoccupied him.
0:38.7	Stephen Nadler, welcome to Philosophy Bites.
0:41.3	Well, thank you for having me.
0:43.0	It's good to be here.
0:44.2	The topic we're going to focus on is Spinoza on death.
0:47.1	Just before we get onto the death bit,
0:48.8	could you very briefly say who Spinoza was?
0:51.9	Spinoza was born in 1632 in Amsterdam and his family were refugees from the
0:59.5	Portuguese Inquisition and they arrived in Amsterdam earlier in the 17th century.
1:05.0	He was raised in a Jewish community of refugees and these were former conversos.
1:12.0	They had been forced to convert from Judaism
1:13.9	to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal.
1:16.6	And then as the Inquisition started to clamp down,
1:18.8	they fled and many of them settled in Amsterdam
1:21.6	where they were allowed to practice their Judaism openly.
1:25.2	And everything seemed to be going fine until around the age of 23.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nigel Warburton, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Nigel Warburton and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.