I've never seen a RU-vidr who is so prolific and also consistently very high quality, and for FREE too! Very impressive channel. I don't know how you do it, but I hope it's enjoyable and not causing burnout on top of other responsibilities
Thank you for doing this series. Spinoza is one of the most difficult philosophers to grapple with, given that he actually lays out a complete framework for how the universe functions from first principles. Having read the ethics and understood
just in the nick of time, my summer holidays have begun and i promised myself to read the Ethics for the holidays. Your video has been a great resource !
My favorite part was the belief that a god would never be concerned with small beings like humans. And then later, the amazement at the near infinite odds at humanity existing and the "stars aligning" in such a specific way to allow life to exist. Hmmmmm.....
I recommend those new to Spinoza to work through the Ethics themsleves with Beth Lord or Steven Nadler's book or both on the Ethics. They are well written and easy to unsterstand. These videos of which I endured four contain a rushed, shallow and often wrong interpretation of Spinoza's work. Spinoza's masterpiece deserves better.
It's always the same when you discourse about the beginning of it all. Nothing existed and then it all existed. Is it fair to ask where the nothing itself was, or is that too far a leap? How did something came from nothing? Or are these just 'unanswerable' questions, so why bother to ask them at all?
Spinoza was a Jew. His primary introduction to God was via the Old Testament. I wonder what he thought of this verse: GENESIS 6:6: "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." (KJV). It implies God makes mistakes.
Thank you for at least trying to explain this. I recently came across the concept of pantheism and Spinoza. My cursory understanding of Spinoza is in line with the way I have found myself thinking over the past decade or so. As a result, I have been reading…or trying to read ethics, but I really don’t follow what he’s saying, I have only been going by what other you tubers have been explaining to me. You’re explication is helpful in that you try to explain the primary text. I do have one question though. I agree that most people, if they’re honest with themselves, are able to comprehend what Spinoza describes as god, but what about those born with cognitive impairments? I imagine that in Spinoza’s era not many people born with Down syndrome or other defects lived long enough to be considered in his writings. Is this more of an explanation that things like that happen in nature and since nature is god it just is what it is or is there some way to explain this concept to those individuals?
30 minutes in, I could not continue listening any longer. Why does the speaker give a chuckle time to time as though he does not agree with the concept, or even laugh at the philosopher? If you don't believe/follow the philosophy of Spinoza, why do you even try to teach someone else? If you aren't trying to "teach", say at least something original to oppose the thinker, or be fashionable about what you don't understand. I beg you to just stop producing something like this again until you understand things better.
