Ethics

Name: Ethics
ISBN: 9787100086448

Baruch Spinoza / He LinThe Commercial Press · ChinaMar 2023

4.3

Word count: 165K words
Chapters: 25
ISBN: 9787100086448

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Summary

Ethics was compiled and published by others after the author's death. Though it does not form a complete system, it has been reprinted again and again and translated into the world's major languages. The book concentrates his creative use of the Bible and tradition to expound his ethical views, and is intended not only for Christians but equally for agnostics or atheists. Its main contents include: God's love and the disintegration of the world; church and world; ethics as formation; the ultimate and the penultimate; Christ, reality and the good; history and the good; the "ethical" and the "Christian" as a theme; the Lutheran confession; "personal" ethics and "real" ethics; state and church; on the possibility of the church's speaking to the world; what is meant by telling the truth; and so on.

Editor's review

Spinoza's Ethics is not a moral instruction manual in the modern sense but a grand philosophical system concerning God, nature, and the human mind, constructed in the manner of Euclidean geometry. This Commercial Press edition, with its scholarly rigor and classic textual lineage, provides Chinese readers a reliable path to approaching this difficult masterpiece. The book adopts a deductive structure of "definitions—axioms—propositions—proofs—corollaries"; beneath the cold, rigorous chain of logic surges the most fervent rational pursuit of the "highest good" and "freedom." Spinoza equates God with nature itself, dissolving the transcendent ruler and thus drawing the foundation of ethics back from faith to the knowledge of natural necessity. He emphasizes that human freedom lies not in doing as one pleases but in understanding the emotions through reason and comprehending the necessary connections between oneself and all things, thereby liberating oneself from passive emotional slavery and attaining an "active" and "tranquil" state of mind. Reading this book is like undergoing an extreme training of thought; its value lies not only in its conclusions but also in that philosophical method which discards all vagueness and passion and relies purely on logical deduction to reach truth. It challenges common sense, reshapes one's worldview, and is an indispensable classic for understanding the pinnacle of modern rationalist philosophy.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Deep readers with a strong interest in the history of Western philosophy, especially the rationalist tradition
Thinkers seeking to go beyond shallow self-help and understand the nature of happiness and freedom from philosophical foundations
Readers unafraid of abstract speculation and rigorous logical argumentation who enjoy intellectual challenges
Scholars and advanced students researching ethics, metaphysics, or Spinoza's thought

Not a good fit for

Practical readers expecting a book offering specific moral conduct guidelines or life advice
Readers with no philosophical background who wish for easy introduction or fragmented reading

Reading tips

On first reading, one may temporarily skip the elaborate geometric proofs and first grasp the core definitions, propositions, and corollaries of each part, understanding the argumentative thread and core conclusions
It is recommended to read alongside chapters on Spinoza in histories of Western philosophy to understand the historical background of his thought and its transitional position
Be patient while reading; prepare notes to sort out the definitions and connections of core concepts (such as substance, attribute, mode, causa sui), which is key to understanding the whole book

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

版权信息
汉译世界学术名著丛书
出版说明
第一部分论神
界说
公则
附录
第二部分论心灵的性质和起源
界说
公则
公设
第三部分论情感的起源和性质
序言
界说
公设
情绪的界说
第四部分论人的奴役或情感的力量
序言
界说
公则
附录
第五部分论理智的力量或人的自由
序言
公则
译后记

FAQ

Why is this book called Ethics when its content resembles geometry and metaphysics?

In Spinoza's view, true ethics must be built on a solid ontological and epistemological foundation concerning God (nature) and the human mind (knowledge). The first two parts explore substance and attributes, laying the "foundation" for ethics; the last three parts transition from epistemology to the analysis of emotions and the highest good life, forming the "superstructure" of ethics. The whole book is an indivisible system.

Can one understand this book without a philosophical background?

It is extremely challenging. This book is famously difficult in the history of philosophy, and its mode of writing differs greatly from everyday thinking. It is advisable to have at least a basic understanding of Cartesian philosophy and to be mentally prepared for repeated reading and consulting reference materials. On first reading, focus on sensing its intellectual framework and argumentative style rather than insisting on complete understanding.

What are the features of this Commercial Press edition?

This edition (Chinese Translations of World Academic Classics series) typically uses Mr. He Lin's classic translation, which is accurate and elegant, preserving the speculative style of the original to the greatest extent. The book includes detailed translator's notes and a scholarly introduction, greatly aiding understanding of the textual background and core concepts, and is one of the standard versions for studying Spinoza in the Chinese-speaking world.

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About the author

Baruch Spinoza Author · Dutch · 1632–1677

Baruch de Spinoza (1632–1677) was a seventeenth-century Dutch rationalist philosopher and a forerunner of the Enlightenment, born into a Portuguese-Jewish family in Amsterdam. Expelled from the Jewish community in 1656, he thereafter earned his living grinding optical lenses. He advanced a monism of substance and a pantheistic view that identified God with nature, set out chiefly in works such as Ethics and the Theologico-Political Treatise. His writings also address the improvement of the understanding, God, man and his well-being, and the principles of Descartes' philosophy, along with his correspondence, spanning metaphysics, epistemology, politics, and religious criticism. His work is known for its geometric method of argument, precise concepts, and restrained expression, and has had a profound influence on later philosophy.

He Lin Author · Chinese · 1902–1992

He Lin (1902–1992) was a native of Jintang, Sichuan, and a renowned modern Chinese philosopher, translator, and educator, as well as a representative of modern New Confucianism. He studied in the United States and Germany and taught for many years at Peking University; in 1955 he joined the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He devoted his life to translating and studying Western philosophy, especially Hegel's. His translations of Hegel's classic works, such as the Shorter Logic and The Phenomenology of Spirit, are known for their careful terminology and concise style and have provided Chinese scholars with reliable texts for understanding German classical philosophy. His own works, including Culture and Life, blend Chinese and Western thought, address cultural reconstruction and the value of life, and are written in a plain yet reflective style. The library holds thirteen of his works, including translations, treatises, and lecture collections, showing that his writings span both philosophical translation and cultural construction and have had a profound influence on modern Chinese philosophical research.