Baruch Spinoza 1634-1677 Dutch philosopher

Spinoza's family came to Holland from Spain to escape the inquisition which persecuted jews like themselves. In Holland, the young Spinoza was educated in jewish learning but found it impossible to remain orthodox. As a result, he was banned from the synagogue on charges of atheism and free thought. However, far from advocating atheism, Spinoza made God the center of his philosophy. In fact, some commentators called him the God intoxicated man. For Spinoza, God and nature were one. In his view, everything was determined by God's nature. Thus, in the sphere of the mind, there was no freedom of the will and in the sphere of nature, no chance. He believed that it was logically impossible for things to be other than they are.

In his philosophical work, Spinoza owes much to the methods of Descartes and the political theories of Hobbes. In turn, Leibniz, although he denied it, owes much to Spinoza.

Spinoza lived quietly and frugally in Amsterdam and then in the Hague making his living as a lens grinder while working out his philosophical ideas. He was much more interested in preserving his independence than in acquiring money. He refused a pension from Louis XIV because he would have had to dedicate a work to the king.