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Loading... The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the…by Matthew Stewart
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. This book is about the lives and philosophy of Leibniz and Spinoza, it's history is rather accurate and the author brings a vivid picture of their lives, however, that may be the problem, it's excessive biography of the authors leaves one in want of a more comprehensive context both historically and philosophically. The author seems to want to establish certain premises throughout, making his claims presumptuous to a high degree. An OK pastime read (  ) RamiFaour | Sep 19, 2009 |  A little too polemical on the side of Spinoza. I would have preferred some scholarly detachment. It's something that Frederick Beiser does in his writings on German Idealism without at all sounding like an academic discourse. ( ) Allen_Bass | Nov 17, 2007 | This is an outstanding indruction to both Leibniz and Spinoza, the writer respects both of the philosphers and makes them alive (  ) michaelbartley | Aug 13, 2007 | I wanted more Math. I thought it went on & on. I don't know enough to know if what he was saying about Leibniz was true. I wonder if he exaggerated Leibniz position in the history of philosophy. franoscar | Aug 11, 2007 | This book is a bit superfluous. It is written with a romantic bias: Spinoza as the great romantic, almost Nietzschean hero, and Leibniz as a coward conformer to the ideas and opinions of his masters. I do in fact agree with the description of Spinoza, but not with Leibniz': he is a much more original thinker than Matthew Stewart describes. (  )1  CumLibello | Aug 10, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0393058980, Hardcover)A drama of ideas as urgent and compelling as Copenhagen;a dance of personalities as colorful as in Wittgenstein's Poker.Philosophy in the late seventeenth century was a dangerous business. No careerist could afford to know the reclusive philosopher known as an "atheist Jew," Baruch de Spinoza. Yet the wildly ambitious young genius Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz became obsessed with Spinoza's writings, wrote him clandestine letters, and ultimately called on Spinoza in person at his home in The Hague. Both men were at the center of the intense religious, political, and personal battles that gave birth to the modern age. One was a hermit with many friends; the other, a socialite no one trusted. One believed in a God whom almost nobody thought divine; the other defended a God in whom he probably did not believe. Their characters and ways of life defined their philosophies. In this exquisitely written philosophical romance of attraction and repulsion, greed and virtue, religion and heresy, Matthew Stewart dramatizes a titanic clash of beliefs that still continues today. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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