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Spinoza: Practical Philosophy
by Gilles Deleuze (Author), Robert Hurley (Translator) Format: Paperback
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (175)
Spinoza's theoretical philosophy is one of the most radical attempts to construct a pure ontology with a single infinite substance. This book, which presents Spinoza's main ideas in dictionary form, has as its subject the opposition between ethics and morality, and the link between ethical and ontological propositions. His ethics is an ethology, rather than a moral science. Attention has been drawn to Spinoza by deep ecologists such as Arne Naess, the Norwegian philosopher; and this reading of Spinoza by Deleuze lends itself to a radical ecological ethic. As Robert Hurley says in his introduction, "Deleuze opens us to the idea that the elements of the different individuals we compose may be nonhuman within us. One wonders, finally, whether Man might be defined as a territory, a set of boundaries, a limit on existence."
Gilles Deleuze, known for his inquiries into desire, language, politics, and power, finds a kinship between Spinoza and Nietzsche. He writes, ""Spinoza did not believe in hope or even in courage; he believed only in joy and in vision . . . he more than any other gave me the feeling of a gust of air from behind each time I read him, of a witch's broom that he makes one mount.
Gilles Deleuze was a professor of philosophy at the University of Paris at Vincennes. Robert Hurley is the translator of Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality.
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About the Author
Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) was a French philosopher whose writings influenced many philosophical disciplines such as literary theory, post-structuralism and postmodernism. He also taught philosophy at the University of Paris at Vicennes.
Robert Hurley was a translator for many French philosophers including Michael Foucault (History of Sexuality), Gilles Deleuze and George Bataille (Theory of Religion).
Product details
Publisher : City Lights Publishers
Publication date : 2 January 2001
Language : English
Print length : 130 pages
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Arihant Kumar
5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfied
Reviewed in India on 14 January 2025
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Autonomeus
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful and interesting, but not a comprehensive summary
Reviewed in the United States on 5 July 2023
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I came to this little (130 pp) book, originally published in French in 1970, via Toni Negri's essays on Spinoza. The translation for the 1988 English edition from City Lights is by Robert Hurley. There are five very readable essays by Deleuze, including a very informative biography. But the main text is the "Index of the Main Concepts of the 'Ethics'," and it is less readable as it is a non-systematic summary of Spinoza's great work. The preface suggests reading Deleuze on Spinoza intuitively, like poetry. In that spirit, here are the passages that made the biggest impact on me -- the quotations are from Deleuze, not Spinoza, unless noted as such:
*** *** ***
ATTRIBUTE
"The Spinozan immanence is therefore no less opposed to emanation than to creation" (52).
EMINENCE
"If a triangle could speak, it would say that God is eminently triangular" -- Spinoza (63).
FREEDOM
"Freedom is always linked to essence and to what follows from it, not to will and what governs it" (70-71).
NECESSARY
"...[N]othing is possible in Nature; that is the essences of non-existing modes are not models or possibilities in a divine legislative intellect; there is nothing contingent in Nature" (94).
POWER
"One of the basic points of the 'Ethics' consists in denying that God has any power (potestas) analogous to a tyrant, or even an enlightened prince. God is not will, not even a will enlightened by a legislative intellect" (97).
"...[T]he power of God is two-fold -- a power of existing and producing, and a power of thinking and comprehending..." (103).
"The entire 'Ethics' presents itself as a theory of power, in opposition to morality as a theory of obligations" (104).
PROPRIA
"Ignorance of God's essence, that is, of his nature, has been constant... This is theology's basic error... God is endowed with anthropological and anthropomorphic properties, elevated to the infinite" (105).
SIGN
"...[T]he most serious error in theology consists precisely in its having disregarded and hidden the difference in nature between obeying and knowing, in having caused us to take principles of obedience for models of knowledge" (106).
SPINOZA'S EVOLUTION
"...[T]he 'Ethics' demonstrates a substantial identity [of God and Nature] based on the oneness of substance (pantheism)" (110-111).
SPINOZA AND US
"The important thing is to understand life, each living individuality, not as a form, or a development of form, but as a complex relation between different velocities, between deceleration and acceleration of particles. A composition of speeds and slownesses on a plane of immanence" (123).
"Affective capacity, with a maximum threshold and a minimum threshold, is a constant notion in Spinoza" (124).
"Spinoza's ethics has nothing to do with a morality; he conceives it as an ethology, that is, as a composition of fast and slow speeds, of capacities for affecting and being affected on this plane of immanence" (125).
*** *** ***
Deleuze found Spinoza inspirational. Negri finds Spinoza inspirational and continues to promote his philosophy. Through their writings, I find the 17th Century Spinoza inspirational enough to keep exploring.
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Randy Liewicki
4.0 out of 5 stars Spinoza
Reviewed in Canada on 29 May 2013
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This text helped me understand Spinoza more than just reading an excert from Wikiapedia. I recommend it to expand your mind and to allow one to understand a great thinker.
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paul
5.0 out of 5 stars Entity relations.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2014
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Entity relations based on predicate logic, the method for human/computer database design and engineering. Interesting for the Spinozan dictionary and contextual information.
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Itzel
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in Mexico on 2 May 2024
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Loved it. I have several books from Spinoza, but this one is a great introduction to his work.
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Shiraz Iqbal
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on 15 May 2018
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Received as described and on time
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Enseña lo que es investigar el pensamiento de un filósofo
Reviewed in Mexico on 1 October 2020
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Si se quiere conocer a Spinoza, esta investigación de Giles Deleuze ayuda en la exploración de las ideas del filósofo racionalista.
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Pauline Rowe
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2017
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interesting starting point for thinking about Spinoza
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Harry Haller
5.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to Spinoza
Reviewed in the United States on 18 January 2022
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A great book, but a little odd. It has three parts, roughly equal length.
1. A biography of Spinoza
2. A few short essays. These are easy to read and simple, excellent for beginners. If you are more familiar with Spinoza and are looking for a more comprehensive evaluation you're better off seeking Deleuze's full length work on the subject, Spinoza: Expressionism in Philosophy.
3. Glossary of Spinoza's terms. These are summaries written by Deleuze and not just the definitions that Spinoza gives. Some of the entries are quite detailed, taking up multiple pages. They are enjoyable to read, but it may be difficult for beginners to follow along without having the context of them. This part best serves as a refresher while reading along with Spinoza's works.
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NAME Melani Palmer
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for anyone interested in Spinoza or Deleuze.
Reviewed in the United States on 11 August 2019
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This book has a great way of explaining the underlying ideas inside found in the sometimes dense writings of Spinoza. Additionally, there is an entire chapter dedicated to terms used in Spinoza to help you understand his writings more.
Finally, this book helps give insights into the foundation framework Deleuze uses in in later philosophical projects.
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Lin
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 July 2015
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Excellent!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet
Reviewed in the United States on 3 June 2023
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got it :D arrived on time. Great reference for anyone studying Spinoza, the dictionary form is very helpful.
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K.M
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 March 2016
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Very good!
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blade
5.0 out of 5 stars pretty good
Reviewed in the United States on 25 November 2023
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like it
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relfte
3.0 out of 5 stars good few chapters
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 August 2023
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mainly a glossary of terms
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james durham
5.0 out of 5 stars light reading
Reviewed in the United States on 17 April 2021
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this book is just one idealists critique of another, light afternoon reading, pairs well with cheap beer.
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Sereptie
5.0 out of 5 stars A concise and thoughtful biography of Spinoza paired with an ...
Reviewed in the United States on 4 August 2017
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A concise and thoughtful biography of Spinoza paired with an important monograph of Spinoza's ethics. Deleuze brings in Nietzsche as a mediator to elaborate an approach towards ethics which privileges the body. I find this to be some of Deleuze's most engaging writing.
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Justin
2.0 out of 5 stars Opposite of Advert
Reviewed in the United States on 18 May 2026
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This is the opposite of practical philosophy: It’s abstruse, cumbersome, wordy, and never really gets to a clear point. It’s about about about Spinozas ideas and will likely just sit on the shelf. This is why many academics get a bad Rap.
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Marcello Milanezi
1.0 out of 5 stars Review on quality of Kindle edition
Reviewed in the United States on 1 November 2022
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Again, this review is not on the content, but on the so-called Kindle edition... This is not a kindle version, I don't know if it's even worthy of being called a PDF. Amazon should actually take this out of catalogue: it's a poor-job of scanning (!!!), and by that I mean scanning two pages per screen... A complete waste of money and time. Just asked for reimbursement and will try to import the physical version instead.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Very difficult
Reviewed in the United States on 28 September 2020
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Writing is too difficult to follow. Not meant for ordinary readers.
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Matthew Osborn
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful in Understanding Spinoza
Reviewed in the United States on 22 June 2017
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Like the introduction says, there are parts that are difficult, but other parts just made so much sense to me and helped me understand my favorite philosopher better.
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Arturo
5.0 out of 5 stars Moral values explained
Reviewed in the United States on 15 February 2020
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Beautiful !!! Thank you
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Roger Summers
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding understanding positively
Reviewed in the United States on 5 March 2014
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This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand Spinoza and this "Practical" song will have you returning often. Dig-it!
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Matthew Wilcox
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 14 February 2018
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cheese and crackers.
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John Kydd
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 7 November 2016
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Eloquent and compressed summary of Spinoza
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars The philological views interpretation were to academic for my ability ...
Reviewed in the United States on 7 February 2018
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The philological views interpretation were to academic for my ability to appreciate what I had thought Voltier alluded and gave credence to Spinoza
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