The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World

351 Pages·2006·18.564 MB·English

by  Matthew Stewart

THE
C urti
antdh e
C
LEIBNIZ,
SP INOZA ,
antdh e
FATEG OD
of
int hM,O D.SllNW ORLD
*
"Ac olorrefuiln tern.p .r etatio
Stewwairattn 'pdsr ofluent
promsaek teh bioso ak
fascinraetaidn.g"
'\\,I:
, CE t· PO, .\. I I �l E philo,ophY
\\..l "-�d1a n¥l·rou, hu-..i l1l'""l-"o·r no onl'
wa• II nwn· '" than tor Haruch Spinola. the
sen-ntt-enth·Lenllln· phi lo•ophcr thrown
out ,,t tl1l'fi ,wi,h Lommunit, nt .\mstn<lam and dlificd
b, 1h,·olog1.m-and pnlit1cal authorities t·vcn-whcrc as
th<'a rh,-1,t k" \\.h1k h1, 111flammaton manuscript• c:ir­
, ul.11,·d underground �pin,lla lin<l a humble existence
1n I ht· lL.i�uc grinding opti1..Jl lt'l1",(""i to make enJ..;. meet
\li::..tnwhik 111t he .�littt'rinf! .;;alon� of Paris.
Cc>ttlncd \\ ilhdm Lcib1111. the polymath 1m·entor of
r he 1, il,ul u,. "a, d 1 mbin.� the ladder of courth ,uccess.
In b"t" ,-en tnp-tu the npera and groundbreaking "·ork
111 mcith,·matic- philo•llpln. and _1uri-prudcncc. he
dt,nl,unn-d ""-pino1;1 at c,·ery opportunity. St:'cretly. he
,lltt_;..!. ht out rarl' Lnpie, of�pino,aS manu..;cripts and
\\Tntc l.1nllt:...tine il'ttl·r... prai,ln,!;! hi� \\·ork. 1 hen. on
1..
,,, .1round ''"ember J, ,6-6 Leibniz called on Spinoza
in rcr--un 111h ope, of pro\'it1f.: the ex1r.,tt=nce ofa tran·
"tt·ntknt Cod
B"th thc-c men \\-trc JI the center oi the tntense
r<'l1u!()u, political and ptr-onal battle-, that gan birth
tll th,· mmlcrn :ige Both put their fo1th m the guidance
ot rt·:i..,011 \L't unL· ,, a,;,, a hermit with many friends:
tlw nrhn .1-o ualnc no one tru,ted. One bclie,·ed in a
( ""I ,dwm ,dmo-t nobod, thought di,-ine: the other
ddcndnl a Cm! 111 "hom he prohabh· did not belic,·e.
L l11m;itck these t\\o thinker, would cnme to repre,ent
r.1d It Jl h d1 tlt-rcnt approaches to the ch:illengcs nf the
n,odern L"ra.
In 1hi,c,qu1,itch·wr1tttn philosoph1cal romance
ofattr:iction and rcpuls10n greed and 1-irtue religion
�11Hl ht.·n•..;� \L.1.tthl'w "°ltt"wart gin.--.; narratin::: form to
an ,·pi, conte-t of idea, that ,hook the ,e,·enteenth
u..· ntury-and continllt"·• toda�
The Courtier
and the Heretic
.4
ALSO BY MATTHEW STEWART
MonturDiroelaTh'sme E :x traorSdtioofnrta yhryS e u bmaIrnivneen tor
1--Vho JMmtedt oS avtehW eo rld
TheT ruatbhoE uvte rything:
AnI rreHviesretofnoPt ryh ilowsiotflphlh uys trations
TheC ourtier
antdh Hee retic
LEIBNIZ, SPINOZA, AND
THE FATE OF GOD
IN THE MODERN WORLD
Matthew Stewart
W. W. NORTON & COMPANY NEW YORK • LONDON
Copyright © 2006 by Matthew Stewart
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
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Book design by Chris Welch Design
Production manager: Andrew Marasia
ISBN 0-393-05898-0
For Katherine and Sophia
Contents
1 The Hague, November 1676 11
2 Bento 18
3 Gottfried 39
4 A Life of the Mind 54
5 God's Attorney
75
6 The Hero of the People 95
7 The Many Faces of Leibniz 109
8 Friends of Friends 121
9 Leibniz in Love 132
10 A Secret Philosophy of the Whole of Things 156
11 Approaching Spinoza 183
12 Point of Contact 196
13S urviving Spinoza 203
14 The Antidote to Spinozism 232
7
8 Contents
15 The Haunting 256
16 The Return of the Repressed 280
17 Leibniz's End 294
18 Aftermath 307
Notes 313
A Note on Sources
327
Bibliography 332
Acknowledgments 341
Index 343
The Courtier
and the Heretic