Spinoza's Epistemology through a Geometrical Lens

This book interrogates the ontology of mathematical entities in Spinoza as a basis for addressing a wide range of interpretive issues in Spinoza's epistemologyfrom his antiskepticism and philosophy of science to the nature and scope of reason and intuitive knowledge and the intellectual love of God. Going against recent trends in Spinoza scholarship, and drawing on various sources, including Spinoza's engagements with optical theory and physics, Matthew Homan argues for a realist interpretation of geometrical figures in Spinoza; illustrates their role in a Spinozan hypothetico-deductive scientific method; and develops Spinoza's mathematical examples to better illuminate the three kinds of knowledge. The result is a portrait of Spinoza's epistemology as sanguine and distinctive yet at home in the new Cartesian and Galilean scientific-philosophical paradigm.

Approaches Spinoza's epistemology with a view toward evaluating whether he is mathematical realist like Descartes and Galileo Distinguishes between different types of knowledge in Spinoza's work? Shows the extent and importance of the connection between Spinoza's epistemology and mathematical realism

Autorentext

Matthew Homan is Senior Lecturer of Philosophy at Christopher Newport University, USA.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Mathematics and Methodology: Spinoza Contra Skepticism.- 3. Realism and Antirealism About Mathematical Entities.- 4. Reason and Imagination in Spinozan Science.- 5. Geometry and Spinozan Science.- 6. Spinoza's Notions of Essence.- 7. Intuitive Knowledge: The Perfection of Reason.- 8. Conclusion.