World Congress of Philosophy

  Quotes  /  By person  /  Benedict de Spinoza Quotes I can control my passions and emotions if I can understand their nature. - Spinoza

Personalities  /  Benedict de Spinoza (Baruch Spinoza) Quotes  /  By person  /  Benedict de Spinoza Quotes Benedict de Spinoza, Hebrew forename Baruch, Latin forename Benedictus, Portuguese Bento de Espinosa, (born November 24, 1632, Amsterdam—died February 21, 1677, The Hague), Dutch Jewish philosopher, one of the foremost exponents of 17th-century Rationalism and one of the early and seminal figures of the Enlightenment. His masterwork is the treatise Ethics (1677). Early Life And Career Spinoza’s Portuguese parents were among many Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity but continued to practice Judaism in secret (see Marranos). After being arrested, tortured, and condemned by the inquisition in Portugal, they escaped to Amsterdam, where Spinoza’s father, Michael, became an important merchant and eventually served as one of the directors of the city’s synagogue. Spinoza’s mother, Hannah, died in 1638, shortly before his sixth birthday. The Jewis...