While Spinoza never directly defines his philosophy as a variant of Deism, the two philosophies share a lot in common. The main tenet of Deism is the idea of God as a "clock winder." That is, when God created the universe, it was as if he wound a clock: all future events were already set in the universe's clockwork at the beginning of time. Because of this, every occurrence happens as a consequence of something else, whether it is directly apparent or unperceivable to mankind. Additionally, the Deist God is an absent God--once the clock was wound, he let it run on its own, not interfering with humanity (much like the gods of Epicureanism).
Spinoza describes God as neither present in everyday life nor a judge, which follows directly in Deism's idea of an absent God. Spinoza is also very concerned with the causal nature of the universe. Man does not have free will, and every occurrence is predetermined. This would all fit with the clockwork analogy, for if man is simply a part of the clockwork machinery, he cannot change his fate, as to do so would completely disrupt the clockwork of the entire universe—a huge cost just so one could avoid his destiny. According to Spinoza, we can only appreciate this when we attempt to view the universe from a “God’s eye view,” with a more cosmic perspective. In more Deist terms, we have to try to look at the whole clock to grasp how one single cog works.
So how possible is it for Spinoza to have drawn from Deism, or inspired some of it’s ideas? The first known usage of the word Deist was in 1621 in Great Britain, by Robert Burton in his book The Anatomy of Melancholy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism#cite_note-1621Deist-2), and first appeared in an English dictionary in 1675 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism#cite_note-1675Dictionary-3). Spinoza lived from 1632-1677, so he was more or less a contemporary of very early Deists. Since he lived in the Netherlands, he may have had some exposure to the early Deists, but it is unlikely that there was a direct exchange of ideas. But while Spinoza did not inspire early Deists, it is probable that his writings influenced later Deists, when the philosophy became popular in during the Age of Enlightenment.
So what do you think—did Spinoza influence Deism, Deism influence Spinoza, or was the culture at the time simply conducive to that mode of thinking?
I know very little at all about Deism and even after our class discussion on Thursday I feel like I know almost as little about Spinoza. However, the based on the facts you gathered, I would side with the culture at the time as the key factor in their similarities. Spinoza and the Deists do seem to have related ideas, especially in their movement away from the traditional Christian god who intervenes routinely in the world, but the fact that both appeared at approximately the same time leads me to believe that they reached their conclusions independently. Also, I think Spinoza himself would take issue between the comparisons between his god and the deist god, particularly emphasizing that his divine force embodies the entirety of the universe, while the Deist god is still a separate creator force.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really intriguing question. The two seem to share similarities with regard to their worldview, the role of a Higher Power, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that, although they share these commonalities, that correlation does not necessarily indicate that Spinoza was a Deist. He may have been sympathetic to their views, but not necessarily ascribe to them
Thanks for posting this. This was a really interesting topic
Grace,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this is an interesting and insightful post. I never really knew much about Deism, but you've done a great job summarizing the Deist belief. Regarding the similarities between Deism and Spinoza’s ethical views, I agree with Stephanie when she says that the culture at that time might have led to their similarities. From your gathered facts, Spinoza was more or less a contemporary of very early Deists. However, since both ethical views sprang up at about the same time period, it’s unlikely that one influenced the other. If that was the case,however, I think Spinoza would have in some way acknowledged that in his writing.