Although Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) writes in the 17th century, he is a constant presence in 18th century German philosophy. In The Ethics, his magnum opus, Spinoza argues that God is identical to nature taken as a whole, that we are all mere ‘modes’ of God, that everything happens necessarily and hence we lack free will, and that nothing in the world happens for a purpose, but instead is a necessary consequence of God/nature’s essence. To describe this as heretical is an understatement. For 18th century Germans, ‘Spinozism’ becomes a synonym for atheism, fatalism, and the denial of morality. Until quite late in the 18th century, German philosophers often argue by ‘reductio ad Spinoza’: if you can show that your opponent’s position leads to Spinozism, you have refuted him. Spinozism returns powerfully to the fore in 1783 when F.H. Jacobi publishes his Letters on the Doctrine of Spinoza, in which he argues that Aufklärung philosophy, if pursued consistently, leads inevitably to Spinozism. We must either make an irrational ‘leap’ and embrace traditional religion, Jacobi argues, or embrace Spinozism and ‘nihilism’, a term Jacobi coins to capture what he sees as the fatalist and amoralist consequences of Spinoza. The ensuing debate about Spinoza—the so-called Pantheismusstreit—engulfed German intellectual life for the next decade or so. Every major Aufklärung philosopher, including Kant and Mendelssohn, struggles to explain how we can embrace reason without being Spinozist atheists. But the story of Spinoza is not done. By the early 19th century, a younger generation of German philosophers embraces a more positive view of Spinoza. For instance, Schelling and Hegel, in quite different ways, try to rehabilitate a version of Spinozism within their own metaphysical systems. The Spinozistic motto ‘all is one’ (hen kai pan) thus becomes a watchword for the German idealists.
The focus of our summer institute will be Spinoza and his decades-long formative influence on German idealism. We will study Spinoza’s own writings, the writers of the Pantheismusstreit (Kant, Mendelssohn, Jacobi and others), as well as the German idealists (especially Schelling and Hegel). We will examine questions such as: How accurate is the 18th century German reception of Spinoza? How is that reception shaped by Spinoza’s Jewish background? How does the Lutheran background of German philosophy influence this reception? How does Spinoza’s earlier work, the Theologico-Political Treatise, transform 18th century German discussions of the relation between faith and reason? How does Mendelssohn’s Jewish identity inform his response to the Pantheismusstreit? In what way are Schelling and Hegel Spinozists? By bringing together both philosophers and scholars of Judaic studies, we will try to answer these questions in their full historical, cultural, and religious context.
The Summer Institute on Spinoza and German Idealism is co-organized by Nick Stang and G. Anthony Bruno. Our sponsors include the Department of Philosophy and the Halford Fund at the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies.
The focus of our summer institute will be Spinoza and his decades-long formative influence on German idealism. We will study Spinoza’s own writings, the writers of the Pantheismusstreit (Kant, Mendelssohn, Jacobi and others), as well as the German idealists (especially Schelling and Hegel). We will examine questions such as: How accurate is the 18th century German reception of Spinoza? How is that reception shaped by Spinoza’s Jewish background? How does the Lutheran background of German philosophy influence this reception? How does Spinoza’s earlier work, the Theologico-Political Treatise, transform 18th century German discussions of the relation between faith and reason? How does Mendelssohn’s Jewish identity inform his response to the Pantheismusstreit? In what way are Schelling and Hegel Spinozists? By bringing together both philosophers and scholars of Judaic studies, we will try to answer these questions in their full historical, cultural, and religious context.
The Summer Institute on Spinoza and German Idealism is co-organized by Nick Stang and G. Anthony Bruno. Our sponsors include the Department of Philosophy and the Halford Fund at the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies.