Benedict Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise (TPT) is both an attack on the authority and overall validity of Scripture as well as a creative reconfiguration of Prophetic Revelation into a rationalistic theory of Liberal Philosophy. The Treatise is a foundational standard of biblical criticism and a universal call for freedom of thought/expression against the often-suffocating shackles of authoritarian religion.
In the course, we will read some of Spinoza’s key arguments undermining traditional positions regarding Creation, Existence of Prophecy and Miracles, Revelation, Divine Providence, and the Purpose of the Law.
We will be using the version of the Theological-Political Treatise as published in the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy, edited by Jonathan Israel.