The first biography in a generation of one of the most influential thinkers in the history of philosophy. Written with impressive skill and confidence... Insight and scholarship give this biography an honoured place, if not eternity, than at least for several decades to come. - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH. 19990713
In defiance of Spinoza's 17th-century rationalism, which taught that all knowledge follows with mathematical precision from universal ideas of reason, Gullan-Whur attempts to locate the origins of Spinoza's thought in his largely undocumented personal and psychological life. Her chief sources are the philosopher's writings, mainly the Theologico-Political Treatise and Ethics, and his extant correspondence. Out of this biographically unpromising fare, she constructs a portrait of a man divided between need for love and solitude, sexual feeling and self-discipline, reasoned and mystical approaches to God. Her method is to judiciously juxtapose quotations from Spinoza's works with descriptions of his social setting, his friends and the historic events of his time, to suggest the impact of these on his thought. Unlike Steven Nadler, whose recent biography (Spinoza, 1999) is more accessibly written, Gullan-Whur devotes special attention to Spinoza's disparaging remarks about women, locating them in the unequal sex roles prescribed by 17th-century Dutch Jewish society. Embedded within her dense arguments about Spinoza's personality (which was, she says, mainly arrogant and ascetic), are helpful insights into his thought, such as his unusual view of self-propelled motion. Though, at their best, these extrapolations of personality, feeling and mood resemble a Henry James novel, they also convincingly reveal Gullan-Whur's impressive gifts as an interpreter of texts. It's less clear, however, that they reveal truths about Spinoza's character. Photos not seen by PW. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Gullan-Whur (doctorate, University Coll., London) has written an imaginative and scholarly life of Spinoza, a 17th-century Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish heritage who was expelled from the Jewish community for his radical beliefs. Spinoza, who identified substance with God, eschewing the transcendent Diety of the Judeo-Christian tradition, modeled his demanding and influential Ethics on Euclid. Using Spinoza's main philosophic themes, Gullan-Whur shows how his life was reflected in his writings. She traces his early years and then carefully describes his intellectual circle and the Dutch history and culture of the time. She not only explicates Spinoza's political, religious, and metaphysical insights but does an excellent job of envisioning his complex personality, needs, and feelings. Especially noteworthy are her discussions of Spinoza's harsh view of women and his relationship to Descartes. A fascinating study of an important figure in Western thought; recommended for philosophy collections.--Gene Shaw, NYPL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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