Freedom Action and Motivation in Spinoza’s Ethics

<p>The present volume posits the themes of freedom action and motivation as the central principles that drive Spinoza’s <i>Ethics</i> from its first part to its last. It assembles essays by internationally leading scholars who provide different sometimes opposing interpretations of these fundamental themes as they operate across the five parts of the <i>Ethics</i> and within its manifold domains. The diversity of issues approaches and perspectives within this volume along with the chapters’ common focus open up new ways of understanding not only some of the key concepts and main objectives in the <i>Ethics </i>but also the threads unifying the entire work.</p><p>The sequence of essays in the book broadly follows the order of the <i>Ethics</i> providing up-to-date perspectives of Spinoza’s views on freedom action and motivation in their ontological cognitive physical affective and ethical facets. This enables readers to engage with a variety of new interpretations of these key themes of the <i>Ethics</i> and to reconsider their consequences both for other related issues in the <i>Ethics </i>and for the relevance of the <i>Ethics</i> to contemporary trends in philosophy of action and motivation. The essays will contribute to the growing interest in Spinoza’s <i>Ethics </i>and spark further discussion and debate within and outside the vast body of scholarship on this important work. </p><p><em>Freedom Action and Motivation in Spinoza’s</em> Ethics will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working on Spinoza and early modern philosophy as well as on philosophy of action and motivation.</p>