Baruch Spinoza: One of the noblest of the great philosophers

His unorthodox beliefs about God and the universe caused him to be excommunicated from his Jewish community, but his work ‘The Ethics’ is now recognised as one of the great achievements of western philosophy

Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677), Dutch philosopher (Getty)

Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) has inspired much admiration and affection among philosophers and students of philosophy alike: Bertrand Russell said of him that he was “the noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers”.

This did not, however – as Russell went on to note – preclude Spinoza from being reviled in his time for his religious heterodoxy; indeed, as a young man he was excommunicated by his Jewish community for “horrendous heresies”. His troubles were caused by the unorthodox beliefs he held about God and the universe.

Spinoza was born in Amsterdam on 24 November 1632. His family were crypto-Jews: that is, they had been forced to adopt Christianity yet secretly maintained their Jewish faith. His father, a successful merchant, had emigrated to Amsterdam in order to avoid persecution, and occupied a position of some prominence in the Jewish community. The young Spinoza was educated at the local Jewish school and synagogue, where he learnt Hebrew and Jewish theology. Outside school hours, he was tutored in Latin, German and some of the other European languages. Spinoza’s father hoped that his son would choose to become a rabbi. However, by the time Spinoza turned 20, it was clear that this was not going to happen.