Spinoza, a Physics of Thought - (Spinoza Studies) by Francois Zourabichvili (Hardcover)

About the Book

Offers a detailed study of Spinoza's philosophical analysis and reformulation of the concept of form and his novel theory of individuation.

Book Synopsis

François Zourabichvili (1965-2006) wrote two of the most important books on Spinoza in the past 20 years. The first book, Spinoza's Paradoxical Conservatism (EUP, 2023) focuses on Spinoza's political philosophy. This second book studies Spinoza's metaphysics and the way he uses it to produce a 'physics of thought'.

Zourabichvili suggests that Spinoza completely revises the concept of form and develops a novel theory of individuation. He argues that Spinoza specifically focuses on the problem of the individuation of ideas, whereas most thinkers only consider the problem of the individuation of bodies. In turn, he draws out the ethical implications of these new Spinozist conceptions.

Review Quotes

A bold and original statement of Spinoza's philosophy of the body through form and matter, motion and rest, sickness and health and - importantly - thought and ideas. With this book, available in English for the first time, French materialist Spinozism takes a new and unprecedented turn.--Beth Lord, The University of Aberdeen

Many have turned to Spinoza for a theory of the body, restoring affects and desire to a philosophical tradition burdened by idealism. Zourabichvili demonstrates that Spinoza is also a thinker of the mind, of the production, generation, and transformation of ideas. A fundamental contribution to Spinoza scholarship and contemporary philosophy.--Jason Read, University of Southern Maine