About the Book: The Trials of Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza (163277) is considered one of the great rationalist thinkers of
the seventeenth century. His magnum opus, Ethics, in which he criticized the
dualism of Descartes, solidified his reputation and greatly influenced the
Enlightenment thinkers who would build from his work. Born in Amsterdam into a
family of Sephardic Jews who had to take refuge there after they were expelled
from Portugal, the precocious young scholar imbibed skepticism at an early age.
By the time he was twenty-four, he had challenged what he called the "fairy
tales" of the Old Testament and was excommunicated by the Synagogue. In