An anthology of the work of Baruch de Spinoza which presents the text of Spinoza's masterwork, the Ethics. It also includes selections from other works by Spinoza, and an introduction that gives an overview of Spinoza's life and the main themes of his philosophy. Introduction I. Spinoza's Life and Philosophy ix(24) II. Bibliographical Note xxxiii(1) III. Abbreviations and Other Conventions xxxiv PRELIMINARIES 3(82) I. A Portrait of the Philosopher as a Young Man 3(3) II. A Critique of Traditional Religion 6(42) A. On Religion and Superstition 6(4) B. On Revelation 10(13) C. On God as an Agent in History 23(3) D. On Law and God as a Lawgiver 26(8) E. On Miracles 34(6) F. On Interpreting Scripture 40(8) III. Fragments of a Theory of Scientific Method 48(7) A. The Four Kinds of Knowledge 48(3) B. Achieving Clear and Distinct Ideas 51(4) IV. From a Non-Geometric Draft of the Ethics 55(11) A. Of the `Attributes' Which Do Not Belong to God, and on Definition 55(2) B. On Natura naturans 57(1) C. On Natura naturata 58(1) D. Of the Human Soul 58(4) E. An Argument for Immortality 62(2) F. A Dialogue on God's Causality 64(2) V. An Early Attempt at Geometrizing Philosophy 66(5) A. Spinoza to Oldenburg 66(2) B. Oldenburg to Spinoza 68(1) C. Spinoza to Oldenburg 69(2) VI. Two Criticisms of Descartes 71(6) A. On the Cartesian Circle 71(3) B. On Descartes' Attempt to Prove God's Existence from His Own 74(3) VII. The Study Group has Questions about Definitions 77(5) A. Simon de Vries to Spinoza 77(2) B. Spinoza to De Vries 79(2) C. Spinoza to De Vries Again 81(1) VIII. The Worm in the Blood Spinoza to Henry Oldenburg 82(3) THE ETHICS 85(181) I. Of God 85(30) II. Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind 115(37) III. Of the Origin and Nature of the Affects 152(45) IV. Of Human Bondage, or the Powers of the Affects 197(47) V. Of the Power of the Intellect, or on Human Freedom 244(22) OBJECTIONS AND REPLIES 266(11) I. Tschirnhaus on Freedom 266(1) II. Freedom and Necessity 267(2) III. Tschirnhaus on Problems about the Attributes and Infinite Modes 269(1) IV. On Knowledge of Other Attributes and Examples of Infinite Modes 270(2) V. Tschirnhaus on Knowledge of Other Attributes 272(1) VI. Each Thing Is Expressed by Many Minds 272(1) VII. Tschirnhaus Presses His Objection 273(1) VIII. Spinoza Replies Again 273(1) IX. Tschirnhaus on Deducing the Existence of Bodies 274(1) X. On the Uselessness of Descartes' Principles of Natural Things 274(1) XI. Tschirnhaus Presses the Objection 274(1) XII. Spinoza's Last Reply 275(2) Index 277