Widely accepted as a philosophical masterpiece, Ethics sets out to explain nothing less than the nature of God, the world, and how we should live. Rejecting some of the most deeply held presuppositions of classical and medieval thought, Spinoza makes the radical claim that God and the universe are in fact one and the same.
The book delves into the critical responses to Henri Bergson's philosophy during the early 20th century, highlighting the tensions between his ideas and those of prominent figures in analytic philosophy like L. Susan Stebbing, Bertrand Russell, and others. It explores how these critiques were shaped by the influence of thinkers such as William James, who viewed Bergson as an ally of American Pragmatism, and Max Scheler, who regarded him as a prophetic figure. This examination sheds light on the intellectual landscape of the time and the evolution of philosophical discourse.