Spinoza's Ethics

Benedictus de Spinoza

Published by Princeton University Press 2020

Spinoza's Ethics

Benedictus de Spinoza
Edited by: Clare Carlisle
Translated by: George Eliot

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691197043

Overview
Contents

About this book

An authoritative edition of George Eliot's elegant translation of Spinoza's greatest philosophical work

In 1856, Marian Evans completed her translation of Benedict de Spinoza's Ethics while living in Berlin with the philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes. This would have become the first edition of Spinoza's controversial masterpiece in English, but the translation remained unpublished because of a disagreement between Lewes and the publisher. Later that year, Evans turned to fiction writing, and by 1859 she had published her first novel under the pseudonym George Eliot. This splendid edition makes Eliot's translation of the Ethics available to today's readers while also tracing Eliot's deep engagement with Spinoza both before and after she wrote the novels that established her as one of English literature's greatest writers.

Clare Carlisle's introduction places the Ethics in its seventeenth-century context and explains its key philosophical claims. She discusses George Eliot's intellectual formation, her interest in Spinoza, the circumstances of her translation of the Ethics, and the influence of Spinoza's ideas on her literary work. Carlisle shows how Eliot drew on Spinoza's radical insights on religion, ethics, and human emotions, and brings to light surprising affinities between Spinoza's austere philosophy and the rich fictional worlds of Eliot's novels.

This authoritative edition demonstrates why George Eliot's translation remains one of the most compelling and philosophically astute renderings of Spinoza's Latin text. It includes notes that indicate Eliot's amendments to her manuscript and that discuss her translation decisions alongside more recent English editions.

Author / Editor information

Clare Carlisle is Reader in Philosophy and Theology at King's College London and a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement. Her books include Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard, On Habit, and Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Becoming. She lives in London.

Reviews

"It is refreshing to encounter George Eliot from the perspective of a philosopher rather than a literary critic, which in this instance has resulted in one of the most lucid accounts available of the affinities between Spinoza and Eliot's fiction. This welcome edition considerably sharpens our picture of Eliot's early career."—Juliette Atkinson, University College London

"This edition of George Eliot's translation of Spinoza's Ethics makes this important text accessible at last. Clare Carlisle provides a concise overview of Spinoza's philosophy and explores his ideas in connection to Eliot's fiction and intellectual life. This fine book will encourage extended analysis of Eliot's relationship to Spinoza's thought, a subject that has been undervalued and underexplored in the criticism."—Suzy Anger, University of British Columbia

"A very distinguished scholarly edition by Clare Carlisle, valuable to readers of George Eliot as well as students of Spinoza."—Philip Davis, author of The Transferred Life of George Eliot

"This book is truly exciting, not only as a work of historical scholarship but also as a genuine work of philosophy that brings to the fore another kind of Spinozism that has barely been studied thus far."—Yitzhak Y. Melamed, author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
George Eliot’s Spinoza. An introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
A Note on the Text Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
ETHICS Benedict de Spinoza Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
PART I. Of God Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
PART II. On the Nature and Origin of the Mind Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
PART III. On the Origin and Nature of the Emotions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
PART IV. On the Servitude of Man and on the Power of the Passions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
PART V. On the Power of the Intellect, or, On Human Liberty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
APPENDIX 1. The Wise Woman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	320
APPENDIX 2. Table of Emotions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
APPENDIX 3. List of George Eliot’s Revisions to Her Translation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331
Index of Names and Works Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	361