Philosophy Flashcards
What was Spinoza’s key critique of theism? (5 syllables a - - - -)
At the heart of his critique was his view that the religious authorities had radically misconceived what God actually is, distorting truth and corrupting the minds of their followers. They had fallen for the illusion of an anthropocentric God: an external being acting on the world of human affairs, intervening according to His whims. God’s role resembled that of a king, Spinoza lamented, dispensing rewards for devotion and punishments for transgression. Thinkers as different as the stern John Calvin and the doubting René Descartes both used the metaphor of God as sovereign in their descriptions of the supreme being.
What label is often retrospectively applied to Spinoza?
Spinoza argued that whatever exists is in God. The divine being is not some distant force, but all around us. Nothing in nature is separate from Him: not people, animals or inanimate objects. Today, the view that God is synonymous with nature is called “pantheism,” and this term is often retrospectively applied to Spinoza.
