Editing Baruch Spinoza (section)

==Biography==
[[File: Mozes en Aaronkerk 1.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Mozes en Aäronkerk|Moses and Aaron Church]] now stands at the site of Spinoza's childhood home.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=115}}]]

===Family background===
{{see also|History of the Jews in Amsterdam}}

Spinoza's ancestors, adherents of [[Crypto-Judaism]], faced persecution during the [[Portuguese Inquisition]], enduring torture and public displays of humiliation. In 1597, his paternal grandfather's family left [[Vidigueira]] for [[Nantes]] and lived outwardly as [[New Christians]],{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=85-87}} eventually transferring to Holland for an unknown reason.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=134}} His maternal ancestors were a leading [[Porto]] commercial family,{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=88}} and his maternal grandfather was a foremost merchant who drifted between Judaism and Christianity.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=299}} Spinoza was raised by his grandmother from ages six to nine and probably learned much about his family history from her.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=124}}

Spinoza's father Michael was a prominent and wealthy merchant in Amsterdam with a business that had wide geographical reach.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=158}} In 1649, he was elected to serve as an administrative officer of the recently united congregation [[Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam)|Talmud Torah]].{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=144}} He married his cousin Rachael d'Espinosa, daughter of his uncle Abraham d'Espinosa, who was also a community leader and Michael's business partner.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=140}} Marrying cousins was common in the Portuguese Jewish community then, giving Michael access to his father-in-law's commercial network and capital.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=140-41}} Rachel's children died in infancy, and she died in 1627.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=38}}{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=140-41}}

After the death of Rachel, Michael married Hannah Deborah, with whom he had five children. His second wife brought a dowry to the marriage that was absorbed into Michael's business capital instead of being set aside for her children, which may have caused a grudge between Spinoza and his father.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=183}} The family lived on the artificial island on the south side of the River Amstel, known as the [[Vlooienburg]], at the fifth house along the [[Houtgracht]] canal.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=115}} The Jewish quarter was not formally divided. The family lived close to the Bet Ya'acov synagogue, and nearby were Christians, including the artist [[Rembrandt]].{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=117}} Miriam was their first child, followed by Isaac who was expected to take over as head of the family and the commercial enterprise but died in 1649.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=183}} '''Baruch Espinosa''', the third child, was born on 24 November 1632 and named as per tradition for his maternal grandfather.{{sfn|Nadler|1999|p=45}}

Spinoza's younger brother Gabriel was born in 1634, followed by another sister Rebecca. Miriam married [[Caceres family|Samuel de Caceres]] but died shortly after childbirth. According to Jewish practice, Samuel had to marry his former sister-in-law Rebecca.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=185}} Following his brother's death, Spinoza's place as head of the family and its business meant scholarly ambitions were pushed aside.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=158}} Spinoza's mother, Hannah Deborah, died when Spinoza was six years old. Michael's third wife, Esther, raised Spinoza from age nine; she lacked formal Jewish knowledge due to growing up a New Christian and only spoke Portuguese at home. The marriage was childless.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=145-46}} Spinoza's sister Rebecca, brother Gabriel, and nephew eventually migrated to [[History of the Jews in Curaçao|Curaçao]], and the remaining family joined them after Spinoza's death.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=185}}

====Uriel da Costa's early influence====
[[File:Dacosta und Spinoza.jpg|left|thumb|240x240px|[[Samuel Hirszenberg]]'s imagined scene of Uriel da Costa instructing Spinoza (1901)]]
Through his mother, Spinoza was related to the philosopher [[Uriel da Costa]], who stirred controversy in Amsterdam's Portuguese Jewish community.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=159}} Da Costa questioned traditional Christian and Jewish beliefs, asserting that, for example, their origins were based on human inventions instead of God's revelation. His clashes with the religious establishment led to his excommunication twice by rabbinic authorities, who imposed humiliation and social exclusion.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=160}} In 1639, as part of an agreement to be readmitted, da Costa had to prostrate himself for worshippers to step over him. He died in 1640, reportedly committing suicide.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=161}}

During his childhood, Spinoza was likely unaware of his family connection with Uriel da Costa; still, as a teenager, he certainly heard discussions about him.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=90}} [[Steven Nadler]] explains that, although da Costa died when Spinoza was eight, his ideas shaped Spinoza's intellectual development. Amsterdam's Jewish communities long remembered and discussed da Costa's skepticism about organized religion, denial of the soul's immortality, and the idea that Moses didn't write the Torah, influencing Spinoza's intellectual journey.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=84}}

===School days and the family business===
[[File:Baruch Espinosa crossed out from pupil list, Ets Haim, Amsterdam, 17th century.jpeg|thumb|Spinoza's name crossed out on the list of pupils of Talmud Torah]]
Spinoza attended the Talmud Torah school adjoining the Bet Ya'acov synagogue, a few doors down from his home, headed by the senior Rabbi [[Saul Levi Morteira]].{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=148–49}}{{sfn|Nadler|1999|pp=65–66}} Instructed in Spanish, the language of learning and literature, students in the elementary school learned to read the prayerbook and the [[Torah]] in Hebrew, translate the weekly section into Spanish, and study [[Rashi]]'s commentary.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=72-75}} Spinoza's name does not appear on the registry after age fourteen, and he likely never studied with rabbis such as [[Manasseh ben Israel]] and Morteira. Spinoza possibly went to work around fourteen and almost certainly was needed in his father's business after his brother died in 1649.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=93}}

During the [[First Anglo-Dutch War]], much of the Spinoza firm's ships and cargo were captured by [[Commonwealth of England|English]] ships, severely affecting the firm's financial viability. The firm was saddled with debt by the war's end in 1654 due to its merchant voyages being intercepted by the English, leading to its decline.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=100-101}}{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=206}} Spinoza's father died in 1654, making him the head of the family, responsible for organizing and leading the Jewish mourning rituals, and in a business partnership with his brother of their inherited firm.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=204-05}} As Spinoza's father had poor health for some years before his death, he was significantly involved in the business, putting his intellectual curiosity on hold.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=205-06}} Until 1656, he continued financially supporting the synagogue and attending services in compliance with synagogue conventions and practice.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=210}} By 1655, the family's wealth had evaporated and the business effectively ended.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=205-06}}

In March 1656, Spinoza went to the city authorities for protection against debts in the Portuguese Jewish community. To free himself from the responsibility of paying debts owed by his late father, Spinoza appealed to the city to declare him an orphan;{{sfn|Nadler|2001|p=25}} since he was a legal minor, not understanding his father's indebtedness would remove the obligation to repay his debts and retrospectively renounce his inheritance.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=220-22}} Though he was released of all debts and legally in the right, his reputation as a merchant was permanently damaged in addition to violating a synagogue regulation that business matters are to be arbitrated within the community.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=222}}{{sfn|Nadler|2001|p=25}}

===Expulsion from the Jewish community===
[[File:Hirszenberg, Spinoza wyklêty (Excommunicated Spinoza), 1907.jpg|thumb|''Excommunicated Spinoza'' by [[Samuel Hirszenberg]] (1907), the second of his two modern paintings imagining scenes of Spinoza's life.]]

Amsterdam was tolerant of religious diversity so long as it was practiced discreetly. The community was concerned with protecting its reputation and not associating with Spinoza lest his controversial views provide the basis for possible persecution or expulsion.{{sfn|Nadler|2001|pp=17–22}} Spinoza did not openly break with Jewish authorities until his father died in 1654 when he became public and defiant, resulting from lengthy and stressful religious, financial, and legal clashes involving his business and synagogue, such as when Spinoza violated synagogue regulations by going to city authorities rather than resolving his disputes within the community to free himself from paying his father's debt.{{sfn|Nadler|2001|p=25}}

On 27 July 1656, the Talmud Torah community leaders, which included [[Isaac Aboab da Fonseca|Aboab de Fonseca]],{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=74}} issued a writ of ''[[Herem (censure)|herem]]'' against the 23-year-old Spinoza.{{sfn|Scruton|2002|p=21}}{{sfn|Touber|2018|p=45}} Spinoza's censure was the harshest ever pronounced in the community, carrying tremendous emotional and spiritual impact.{{sfn|Nadler|2001|pp=2-7}} The exact reason for expelling Spinoza is not stated, only referring to his "abominable heresies", "monstrous deeds", and the testimony of witnesses "in the presence of the said Espinoza".{{sfn|Smith|2003|p=xx}} Even though the Amsterdam municipal authorities were not directly involved in Spinoza's censure, the town council expressly ordered the Portuguese-Jewish community to regulate their conduct and ensure that the community kept strict observance of Jewish law.{{sfn|Nadler|2001|p=19}} Other evidence indicates a concern about upsetting civil authorities, such as the synagogue's bans on public weddings, funeral processions, and discussing religious matters with Christians, lest such activity might "disturb the liberty we enjoy".{{sfn|Nadler|2001|p=20}}

[[File:Ban of Baruch Spinoza, Amsterdam, 27 July 1656, 6 Av 5416.jpg|thumb|Text of Spinoza's expulsion on 6 Av 5416 (27 July 1656)]]
Before the expulsion, Spinoza had not published anything or written a treatise; [[Steven Nadler]] states that if Spinoza was voicing his criticism of Judaism that later appeared through his philosophical works, such as Part I of [[Ethics (Spinoza book)|''Ethics'']], then there can be no wonder that he was severely punished.{{sfn|Nadler|2001|p=16}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=160}} Unlike most censures issued by the Amsterdam congregation, it was never rescinded since the censure did not lead to repentance. After the censure, Spinoza may have written an [[Apologia]] in Spanish defending his views, but it is now lost.{{sfn|Scruton|2002|p=22}} Spinoza's expulsion did not lead him to convert to Christianity or belong to a confessional religion or sect.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=338}} From 1656 to 1661, Spinoza found lodgings elsewhere in Amsterdam and Leiden, supporting himself with teaching while learning lens grinding and constructing microscopes and telescopes.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=243}} Spinoza did not maintain a sense of Jewish identity; he argued that without adherence to Jewish law, the Jewish people lacked a sustaining source of difference and identity, rendering the notion of a secular Jew incoherent.{{sfn|Nadler|2011|p=167}}

===Education and study group===
Sometime between 1654 and 1657, Spinoza started studying Latin with political radical [[Franciscus van den Enden]], a former [[Jesuit]] and atheist, who likely introduced Spinoza to scholastic and modern philosophy, including Descartes, who had a dominant influence on Spinoza's philosophy.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=129-30}} While boarding with Van den Enden, Spinoza studied in his school, where he learned the arts and sciences and likely taught others.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=125-26}}{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=229-30}} Many of his friends were either secularized freethinkers or belonged to dissident Christian groups that rejected the authority of established churches and traditional dogmas.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=342}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=164}} Spinoza was acquainted with members of the [[Collegiants]], a group of disaffected [[Mennonite]]s and other dissenting Reformed sects that shunned official theology and must have played some role in Spinoza's developing views on religion and directed him to Van Enden.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=168}} [[Jonathan Israel]] conjectures that another possible influential figure was atheist translator [[Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker]], a collaborator of Spinoza's friend and publisher Rieuwertsz, who could not have mentored Spinoza but was in a unique position to introduce Spinoza to Cartesian philosophy, mathematics, and lens grinding.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=338-39}}

After learning Latin with Van Enden, Spinoza studied at [[Leiden University]] around 1658,{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=184}} where he audited classes in Cartesian philosophy.{{efn|[[Steven Nadler]] speculates that Spinoza Latinized his name at Leiden because all instruction was in Latin.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=193}}}} From 1656 to 1661, Spinoza's main discussion partners who formed his circle and played a formative part in Spinoza's life were Van den Enden, {{ill|Pieter Balling|nl||it}}, Jarig Jelles, [[Lodewijk Meyer]], [[Johannes Bouwmeester]] and [[Adriaan Koerbagh]].{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=333-38}} Spinoza's following, or philosophical sect,{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=322}} scrutinized the propositions of the ''Ethics'' while it was in draft and Spinoza's second text, ''Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being''.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=330}} Though a few prominent people in Amsterdam discussed the teachings of the secretive but marginal group, it was mainly a testing ground for Spinoza's philosophy to extend his challenge to the status quo.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=350}} Their public reputation in Amsterdam was negative, with [[Ole Borch]] disparaging them as "atheists".{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=344}} Throughout his life, Spinoza's general approach was to avoid intellectual battles, clashes, and public controversies, viewing them as a waste of energy that served no real purpose.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=343}}

===Career as a philosopher===
====Rijnsburg====
[[File: Spinoza museum Rijnsburg 2.jpg|thumb|Spinoza's lodging in Rijnsburg, now a museum]]
Between 1660 and 1661, Spinoza moved from Amsterdam to [[Rijnsburg]], allowing for a quiet retreat in the country and access to the university town, Leiden, where he still had many friends.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=214}} Around this time, he wrote his ''Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being'', which he never published in his lifetime, thinking it would enrage the theologians, synods, and city magistrates.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=456}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=225}} The ''Short Treatise'', a long-forgotten text that only survived in Dutch translation, was first published by [[Johannes van Vloten]] in 1862.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=330}} While lodging with Herman Homan in Rijnsburg, Spinoza produced lenses and instruments to support himself and out of scientific interest.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=215-16}} He began working on his ''Ethics'' and ''Descartes' Principles of Philosophy'', which he completed in two weeks, communicating and interpreting Descartes' arguments and testing the water for his metaphysical and ethical ideas. Spinoza's explanations of essential elements of the Cartesian system helped many interested people study the system, enhancing his philosophical reputation. This work was published in 1663 and was one of the two works published in his lifetime under his name.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=243-45}} Spinoza led a modest and frugal lifestyle, earning income by polishing lenses and crafting telescopes and microscopes.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=215}} He also relied on the generous contributions of his friends to support himself.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=305}}

====Voorburg====
In 1663, Spinoza moved to [[Voorburg]] for an unknown reason. He continued working on ''Ethics'' and corresponded with scientists and philosophers throughout Europe. In 1665,{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=264}} he began writing the ''Theological-Political Treatise'', which addresses theological and political issues such as the interpretation of scripture, the origins of the state, and the bounds of political and religious authority while arguing for a secular, democratic state.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=290}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=332}} Before the publication of the ''Theological-Political Treatise'', Spinoza's friend [[Adriaan Koerbagh]] published a book that criticized organized religion, denied the divine authorship of the Bible, and asserted that miracles were impossible—ideas similar to those of Spinoza.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=309-11}} His work attracted the attention of the authorities, leading to his imprisonment and eventual death in prison. Anticipating the reaction to his ideas, Spinoza published his treatise in 1670 under a false publisher and a fictitious place of publication.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=314}} The work did not remain anonymous for long.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=339}} [[Samuel Maresius]] attacked Spinoza personally, while [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[Johannes Bredenburg]] criticized his conception of God and saw the book as dangerous and subversive.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=343}} Spinoza's work was safer than Koerbagh's because it was written in Latin, a language not widely understood by the general public, and Spinoza explicitly forbade its translation.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=346}} The secular authorities varied enforcing the Reformed Church in Amsterdam's orders to ban the distribution of the blasphemous book.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=344}}

====The Hague====
[[File: Spinoza House, The Hague (2016) 01.png|thumb|Spinoza's house in The Hague, where he died]]
In 1670, Spinoza moved to [[The Hague]] to have easier access to the city's intellectual life and to be closer to his friends and followers.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=334}} As he became more famous, Spinoza spent time receiving visitors and responding to letters. He returned to the manuscript of&nbsp;''Ethics'', reworking part Three into parts Four and Five, and composed a Hebrew grammar for proper interpretation of scripture and for clearing up confusion and problems when studying the Bible, with part One presenting etymology, the alphabet, and principles governing nouns, verbs, and more. Part Two, unfinished before he died, would have presented syntax rules.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=375-79}} Another unfinished work from 1676 was ''[[Tractatus Politicus]]'', which concerns how states can function well and intended to show that democratic states are best.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=399}} Spinoza refused an offer to be the chair of philosophy at the [[University of Heidelberg]], perhaps because of the possibility that it might curb his [[freedom of thought]].{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=363}}

====Correspondence====
{{See also|Epistolae (Spinoza)|List of Epistolae (Letters) of Spinoza}}
Few of Spinoza's letters are extant, and none before 1661.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=xiii}} Nearly all the contents are philosophical and technical because the original editors of ''Opera Posthuma''—a collection of his works published posthumously—Lodewijk Meyer, Georg Hermann Schuller, and Johannes Bouwmeester, excluded personal matters and letters due to the political and ecclesiastical persecution of the time.{{sfn|Shirley|2002|p=755}} Spinoza corresponded with [[Peter Serrarius]], a radical Protestant and [[Millenarianism|millenarian]] merchant, who was a patron of Spinoza after his expulsion from the Jewish community. He acted as an intermediary for Spinoza's correspondence, sending and receiving letters of the philosopher to and from third parties. They maintained their relationship until Serrarius died in 1669.{{sfn|Popkin|1999|p=381}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=296}}

[[File:Spinoza Letter to Leibniz.jpg|thumb|left|Letter from Spinoza to Leibniz, with his BdS seal]]
Through his pursuits in lens grinding, mathematics, optics, and philosophy, Spinoza forged connections with prominent figures such as scientist [[Christiaan Huygens]], mathematician [[Johannes Hudde]], and Secretary of the [[British Royal Society]] [[Henry Oldenburg]]. Huygens and others notably praised the quality of Spinoza's lenses.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=259-61}} Spinoza engaged in correspondence with [[Willem van Blijenbergh]], an amateur [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] theologian, who sought Spinoza's view on the nature of evil and sin. Whereas Blijenbergh deferred to the authority of scripture for theology and philosophy, Spinoza told him not solely to look at scripture for truth or anthropomorphize God. Also, Spinoza told him their views were incommensurable.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=252-54}} [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] outwardly described Spinoza's work negatively but privately wrote letters to him and desired to examine the manuscript of the ''Ethics''.{{sfn|Stewart|2006|pp=11-12}} In 1676, Leibniz traveled to The Hague to meet Spinoza, remaining with him for three days to converse about current events and philosophy.{{sfn|Stewart|2006|pp=14-15}} Leibniz's work bears some striking resemblances to parts of Spinoza's philosophy, like in [[Monadology]]. Leibniz was concerned when his name was not redacted in a letter printed in the ''Opera Posthuma''.{{sfn|Buruma|2024|pp=166-67}} In 1675, Albert Burgh, a friend and possibly former pupil of Spinoza, wrote to him repudiating his teachings and announcing his conversion to the Catholic Church. Burgh attacked Spinoza's views as expressed in the ''Theological-Political Treatise'' and tried to persuade Spinoza to embrace Catholicism. In response, Spinoza, at the request of Burgh's family, who hoped to restore his reason, wrote an angry letter mocking the Catholic Church and condemning all religious superstition.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|pp=390-93}}

Spinoza published little in his lifetime, and most formal writings were in Latin, reaching few readers. Apart from ''Descartes' Principles of Philosophy'' and the ''Theologico-Political Treatise'', his works appeared in print after his death. Because the reaction to his anonymously published work, ''Theologico-Political Treatise'', was unfavorable, Spinoza told supporters not to translate his works and abstained from publishing further.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=346}}{{sfn|Stewart|2006|p=106}} Following his death, his supporters published his works posthumously in Latin and Dutch. His posthumous works–''Opera Posthuma''–were edited by his friends in secrecy to prevent the confiscation and destruction of manuscripts.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=22}} He wore a [[signet ring]] to mark his letters, engraved with the Latin word ''Caute'', meaning "Caution", and the image of a thorny rose.{{sfn|Stewart|2006|p=106}}

====Death and rescue of unpublished writings====
[[File:Den Haag - Nieuwe Kerk - Burial Monument to Benedictus de Spinoza - Baruch de Spinoza - Benedict de Spinoza - Benedito de Espinosa.jpg|thumb|Spinoza's memorial plaque in the churchyard of the [[Nieuwe Kerk (The Hague)|Nieuwe Kerk]]. When he was buried, no tombstone or plaque was prepared. His vault was close to [[Johan de Witt]]'s remains.]]
Spinoza's health began to fail in 1676, and he died in The Hague on 21 February 1677 at age 44, attended by a physician friend, Georg Herman Schuller. Spinoza had been ill with some form of lung affliction, probably [[tuberculosis]] and possibly complicated by [[silicosis]] brought on by grinding glass lenses.{{sfn|Gullan-Whur|1998|pp=317-18}} Although Spinoza had been becoming sicker for weeks, his death was sudden, and he died without leaving a will.{{sfn|Israel|2023|pp=1150-1151}}{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=406}} Reports circulated that he repented his philosophical stances on his deathbed, but these tales petered out in the 18th century. Lutheran preacher Johannes Colerus wrote the first biography of Spinoza for the original reason of researching his final days.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=1155}}

Spinoza was buried inside the [[Nieuwe Kerk (The Hague)|Nieuwe Kerk]] four days after his death, with six others in the same vault. At the time, there was no memorial plaque for Spinoza. In the 18th century, the vault was emptied, and the remnants scattered over the earth of the churchyard. The memorial plaque is outside the church, where some of his remains are part of the churchyard's soil.{{sfn|Israel|2023|p=1158}} Spinoza's friends rescued his personal belongings, papers, and unpublished manuscripts. His supporters took them away for safekeeping from seizure by those wishing to suppress his writings, and they do not appear in the inventory of his possessions at death. Within a year of his death, his supporters translated his Latin manuscripts into Dutch and other languages.{{sfn|Nadler|2018|p=409}} Secular authorities and later the Roman Catholic Church banned his works.{{sfn|Israel|1996|p=3}}{{sfn|Totaro|2015|pp=321-22}}