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II. Of the Interpretation of Scripture 11 III. Of Prophets and Prophecy 36 IV. Of the Vocation of the Hebrews 64 V. Of the Divine Law 71 VI. Of the Ceremonial Law 88 VII. Of Miracles 103 VIII. Of the Divine Nature 122 SECOND PART on man IX. The Nature and Origin of the Human Mind 155 X. The Nature and Extent of Human Knowledge 173 XI. Determinism and Morals 191 XII. The Origin and Nature of the Emotions 211 XIII. The Psychology of the Emotions 236 THIRD PART on man's well-being XIV. Of Human Bondage 251 XV. The Foundations of the Moral Life 266 XVI. Of the Foundations of a State 297 XVII. Of Supreme Authorities 314 XVIII. Freedom of Thought and Speech 333 XIX. Of Human Freedom 345 XX. Of Human Blessedness and the Eternity of the Mind 361 Appendix 377

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THE LIFE OF SPINOZA

Baruch de Spinoza was born into the Jewish community of Amsterdam on November 24, 1632. His parents were Jews who had fled, along with many others, from the vicious intolerance of the Inquisition to the limited and hesitant freedom of Holland. At the time Spinoza was born, the Jewish refugees had already established themselves to a certain extent in their new home. They had won, for example, the important right to build a synagogue. Still, they did not enjoy the complete freedom and peace of mind of an independent and securely protected people. Although one could be a Jew in Amsterdam, one had to be a Jew with considerable circumspection. Whatever might prove in any way offensive to the political authority had to be scrupulously eschewed. For, as is always the case, minority groups which are simply tolerated have to suffer for the offenses of any of their members. The Jews of Amsterdam thoroughly understood this. They knew that any significant default on the part of one member of their community would not, in all likelihood, be considered by the authorities to be a default of that one person alone—a failing quite in the order of human nature; they knew it would be considered a manifestation of an essential vice characteristic of the whole community. And the whole community would have to suffer, in consequence, an exaggerated punishment which the individual delinquent himself may well not merit.

It was inevitable that the intellectual life of the Jews of Amsterdam should bear the marks of their inner and outer social constraints. Their intellectual life was cramped and ineffectual. Indiscriminate erudition, not independent thought, was all the Jewish leaders, connected in one way or another with the Synagogue, were able to achieve. It was far safer to cling to the