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Ethics (Paperback)
Benedictus de Spinoza / Penguin Classics / 1996년 6월
평점 : 
This is my second try at reading this. The first time I DNF'd in the first part. This time I got the help of a buddy-read discussion and a couple of tips from introductions and guidebooks.
Although I read the Penguin edition, I got a lot of help from the introduction to the Hackett edition which explains the main terms Spinoza uses in his special sense. I also got a lot of help and food for thought from Spinoza's Ethics: A Reader's Guide by J. Thomas Cook. I also consulted 3 other books tranlslated or written in Korean especially on the most problematic latter portion of part V. (I especially found chapter 3 from Pierre-Francois Moreau's Spinoza Manual and lecture 10 from 스피노자 윤리학 수업 by 진태원 helpful.)I won't attempt to summarize or explain his book in this review because although it is a short book, I think it will take far more space to explain his whole views and summarizing wouldn't do at all because his views are so holistic that it's difficult to just look at it by pieces. One would have to first read it as a whole before you fully understand some parts of the book. Sometimes this makes the reader constantly refer back to the previous parts of the book.Also, although I DID get a lot of help, it doesn't mean that I am firm on my conclusions or I don't have all questions answered. The first part where he gives the definitions and axioms as clear truth taken for granted was where I gave up the first time, and although Moreau and many others have helped in understanding what the definitions meant for Spinoza and his intention behind this defiinition(for example, his definition of attribute is meant to show his belief that human understanding (or perceiving) the essence of substance (God) is possible.), it is still uncertain HOW this definition came so certain and clear to him. It's like the intuitive eye of infinity or the third kind of knowledge mentioned in part V. How do we attain that level of understanding or intelligence of God/Nature? Spinoza isn't very clear in either part I or part V. The part on the human affects and the ways of overcoming passion is all very well and I see traces of how it influenced many of the cognitive behavior therapy and the mind-body relationship and his worldview of a single substance existing as its essence is another fascinating view, but his explanations seem to be cursory and abstract in the parts where they are the most perplexing. It is no wonder there are so many different interpretations of Spinoza and I wish he had lived a bit longer to explain it.Another minor gripe I had with this book was his views on suicide and animal rights. I know his view was probably understandable given the period, but his view on suicide reflects how little was known about psychology and it appears that he didn't want to bother with understanding what 'external causes' influence the conatus, or the striving to decrease. Also, animals may have inferior intelligence but wouldn't they still be one part of the universe that we belong to? From a guy who tries to understand so much, it was surprising he didn't bother with the ones who may be most strongly influenced by human intervention.Still, the book is fascinating and I found some connections with buddhism or taoism and even quantum physics and cognitive neuroscience. Antonio Negri was right in calling him the 'savage anomaly' of the Western philosophy tradition! I've given up metaphysics before but am now ready to tackle other books concerning metaphysics and epistemology, even the books on cognitive science and artificial intelligence after fumbling and struggling through this book!