Spinoza’s Ethics - Chapter 1

[@doogliebop]

Absolutely invaluable explication of Spinoza's ethics. Ive been replaying your 4 videos at least 3 times a day to fully grasp his meanings and i must say; in about 4 more days of repeating i should be able to tackle the source material loll. Really though, thank you for doing Spinoza, he is becoming my favorite philosopher!! You did an amazing job MrSkype!!!

[@achilleskocaeli]

Man, I needed a teacher like you. Excellent explanation.

[@tonybklyn5009]

I've watched this video several times and I can truly say that it is a very clear and cogent presentation of Spinoza's thought. I've been studying Spinoza's metaphysics for fifty plus years. It made sense to me when first encountered; today, it makes even more sense.

[@berkayyuksel8112]

I found a gem here. I really understand everything about Spinoza's ontology in this video in a pretty short time. Thanks for the brilliant content ✨

[@jimblefrimble6251]

This exposition of Spinoza's Ethics is brilliant - so rare to see someone who can use words (especially on a philosophical topic) with such care and precision (but without pedantry). Extraordinary insight and clarity and simplicity of explanation.

[@frostedflakertons7836]

I have learned more from this professor in 21 minutes than I have from my current professor in 75 minutes, 2x a week for 4 months.

[@jamesbrowne6351]

I've enjoyed the lecture immensely. I've read his 'Ethics' and found it a bit cryptic. Your explanations are very helpful.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks for the support. Plenty more on Spinoza and other philosophers on this playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHjYhISqaL6FjZY&ab_channel=MrSkypelessons

[@the_towngirl2698]

Hey, where did you get the book from?

[@gazzyb1079]

Poor Spinoza was nearly hung drawn and quartered at one time, hence the cryptic nature of the ethics.

[@allusionsxp2606]

Whenever I study early-modern philosophers I get this feeling that I understand them yet I also don't understand them. Videos like these give me the credence and confidence I need. Thank you.

[@alibenam2766]

My most sincere gratitudes sir! Now I can comeback to "Ethics" and continue reading after giving it up 6 years ago. Many thanks for your simplified and rather genuine method.

[@MrSkypelessons]

I am making a course on multiple philosophers as we speak. It won't be free, but it will be very long and very cheap (I will put it up for £5 for 5 days at the start). If you like these lectures, you will love the course. Spinoza is my hero.

[@samuelcarvalho5530]

This actually helped me understand Spinoza’s Ethics a lot! I was getting stuck on the first few sentences lol thanks man!

[@danhowser5746]

Thank you so much! Doing an essay on Spinoza and you are so much clearer than my University!

[@johnmccormick8159]

Your idea expressed at the end about science and philosophy are spot on. When students were required to study the classics (Einstein disliked it) they were exposed to many differing ideas which they would no doubt argue themselves. The requirement for a degree in divinity for a PhD was also an opportunity to expand intellectual horizons. Without these, scientists seem to be more technicians and less thinkers.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks, John. There's nothing I hate more than the phrase 'trust the science'. One might as well say 'have faith in the science' or 'pray to the gods of science'. Science doesn't need faith, which is why it is so beautiful.

[@atzirytorres7006]

So happy I found your channel ! Great explication to Spinoza. Thank you!

[@tonybklyn5009]

An accurate & clear presentation of Spinoza's ontology.

[@alyssamars556]

This was amazing, you helped me study for a philosophy exam! Thank you

[@itsvoskalper3693]

I am re reading the ehtics and your explanation is absolutely correct. You are a great teacher. Thank you. Greeting from Spain!

[@MrSkypelessons]

All the lovely comments on these philosophy videos have inspired me to make a philisophy course. It will take me a few months, but I will finish it and put it on my website and Udemy. Much appreciated.

[@cristinapadovaniginies4464]

Thank you soo much 🙏😀 you are Absolutely amazing!. Love the way you lecture with passion and simplicity. I got a much firmer grip on the subject, and am feeling less scared sitting for my exam after the Christmas period🤓💪.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks for the generous comment, Cristina. I'm delighted that the video helped. I had philosophy exams many, many years ago, but not on Spinoza, sadly.

[@cristinapadovaniginies4464]

@@MrSkypelessons Spinoza is very interesting indeed!. I'm currently studying at university in Malta, I enrolled in B.A (Honours) Theology course and we have a lot of study units on Ancient & Medieval philosophy and Modern & Contemporary Philosophy. So far so good hehe, 😁 Glad I found your tutorials for an extra push. Keep up the amazing work! 👍🏻 I'm very grateful 🙏🏻.

[@hannad118]

Such a fascinating lecture! 👏👏👏Thank you for being on KZbin, Mr. Nicholls! I love all your lectures, and I’ve watched this one several times! Love it! Pls do more 🙏👍👏

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thnaks, Hanna. I appreciate all the support. There are more chats about Spinoza, and many other philosophers, on this playlist kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWHUcnd-gaaVi6c

[@fgj4001]

excellent class. I have seen you for a while for your English classes which they are awesome. I really enjoy your philosophy class. Many thanks

[@cuckkek4064]

Hard science cannot explain everything; these are brilliant lectures and easy to digest.

[@noriyakigumble3011]

I spent all of last night reading and Re-reading Spinoza ethics on god, and while I got some stuff, it really wasn’t clicking. This video helped me out so much

[@freeassociation4779]

Dude this was seriously an excellent introduction. I'm blown away. and I watch a lot of online philosophy videos before I dive into a new thinker. So i think that qualifies me to make such assessments lol.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks! Try the next few parts (and I have many other philosophers)... odysee.com/@MrSkypelessons:9/spinoza-s-ethics-chapter-2:f odysee.com/@MrSkypelessons:9/spinoza-s-ethics-chapter-3:b odysee.com/@MrSkypelessons:9/spinoza-s-ethics-chapters-4-and-5:8

[@shishirmallick7633]

Easy, fluent speech about Spinoza. I am enjoyed it.

[@tom1600x1050]

Super clear explanations of a difficult philosophy conceptually. Well done, thanks.

[@huerohx]

im currently studying the works of spinoza and ur lesson has been great for me to digest. ❤

[@zawwadhamim836]

I wanted to start spinoza long time ago. Thanks!

[@MrSkypelessons]

It’s never too late to read Spinoza. He is immortal, in every sense of the word

[@sthembisomkhize2159]

Thank you so much for this beautiful analysis. It has helped me in my understanding of these concepts presented by Baruch Spinoza.

[@MrSkypelessons]

I'm delighted to spread the ideas of Spinoza. He was an amazing thinker.

[@ishi0102]

Thank you for the very accesible introduction to Spinoza

[@cemdogan8736]

I followed your English lessons. I came across your lecture on Spinoza today. Thanks for this. I don't know if you've ever tried, maybe you can combine philosophy, history, politics and English lessons. I followed the lesson on political words. It may be a good idea to make this continuously. You first explain important terms so that it is much easier for us to understand thinkers like Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Smith. We will both learn academic vocabulary and increase our ability to read primary sources. Thanks again.

[@TeekhiValley]

Wonderfully explained! thank you!

[@moshe1000000]

Please do more on spinoza. Would love it if you could delve a little more into ethics. In detail that is.

[@Romekiaa]

This was fantastic. Thank you, sir!

[@christophemellina6918]

Thank you, you've done a very good job, your summaries of the five parts of Spinoza's Ethics are really usefull for the understanding of this great book!

[@bagyalakshmi5973]

I'm from India. I wanted to read ethics book. But my english comprehension skill is pretty average. I wanted a good explanation after reading each chapter. Found you channel. Grateful! Thank you very much 🙏

[@kodylaskowski7116]

thank you for uploading these, we just started studying this in class and it's so helpful

[@orbittechnologieskabul6086]

you're just great sir!!! Thank you for amazing i wish the videos where little longer as i kinda enjoy them

[@natalyavolovchuk6935]

Your philosophy classes are inspiring and thought provoking. Great job! Thank you.

[@heekyungkim8147]

Glad to find this… i have a hard time understanding spinoza. Thank you for this class.

[@dilankapar8954]

An amazing video, really admire it! Thanks for those clean explanations 🧎🏻‍♀️

[@Mary-eo7ir]

I think these lectures will make reading it a lot more fun, if I already have a general grasp of the ideas and can really dig into his language and arguments:). Thank you for making these freely available, I didn’t expect to find this resource! (Though I have strong feelings in favour of the Big Bang 😆)

[@invisiblechurch9621]

The big bang in my understanding says that as of yet we cannot tell what there was or what was happening before it, although there are many theories.

[@amybergue6969]

I totally agree: Science and philosophy should remain linked because they need each other to efficiently grow,. I speak as a scientist. However this video presentation is superbly done: the topic is made easy to understand by the speaker . The same subject taught at colleges and universities is far from being so fascinating. Thank you!

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks so much, Amy. I am no scientist, but I do love doing science. Spinoiza was a scientist too - he made the lenses used by the most famous astronomers of his time (Huygens). Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqC2kKt9btWCj5Y kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4bPhKJqaJynl6s

[@roddehoedt8254]

Excellent presentation of Spinoza's ideas.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks

[@ciaranmurphy5576]

You're very , very good at what you do. Well done sir......

[@lilmax_001]

I had an issue with trying to summarize this topic, thanks to you, I've done that... Thank you so much

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks, Chisom. This is actually my most popular monthly video out of 600 videos, and I am delighted that Spinoza is my top one. I have a whole playlist of philosophy right here, if you are interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWHUcnd-gaaVi6c

[@chircaa99]

Thank you for the Spinoza lessons. They are detailed enough and well structured.

[@AdventureSworn]

This is great, thank you for taking the time to present this.

[@aarefanehaa]

Thanks a lot. Your efforts mean a lot to me.

[@AcTaRus-fk6nj]

The best explanation on Spinoza so far for me. Science does not look down on anything, it is not a person. Science is an aggregation of knowledge which has been demonstrated and proven many time and assumes true until proven wrong. The big bang is a theory. Don't mix up science and theories. I would say that it is philosophy which has lost its way in our modern world

[@MrSkypelessons]

When I say ‘science’, I mean many modern-day scientists. Is the Big Bang a testable theory? I would argue no, it isn’t. Therefore, it is not a scientific theory, but a philosophical one

[@aritovi]

Great lesson, thank you

[@rikihaase2518]

You've helped a lot for my college course, Descartes to Kant! Thank you!

[@causilvestrini7000]

Awesome video! (and I greatly admire Spinoza's thoughts, so neat). I just discovered Dave's philosophy videos the other day (I loved the one on Thales), also fantastic! Thank you so much :-)

[@christinesharman7103]

Very well explained love your videos keep up the work.

[@maximilyen]

Very well organized, just the way I like it 🙂

[@Ronsharo]

Thanks for the lesson. I read this in the book: PROP. V. There cannot exist in the universe two or more substances having the same nature or attribute. de Spinoza, Benedictus (2017-06-13T23:58:59). Ethics . Kindle Edition. So I agree with this proposition but I cannot understand why Spinoza concludes that there is only one substance out of this proposition...Can anyone explain? Thanks.

[@sukritibhatia1655]

There is a substance with infinite attributes (i.e. God). It follows from this that there cannot exist a second substance. For if it were to exist, it would have to have some attribute. But since God has all possible attributes, the attribute to be possessed by this second substance would have already been possessed by God. But it's already been established that no two substances can have the same attribute.

[@Ronsharo]

@@sukritibhatia1655 Got it.Thanks.

[@johndonwood4305]

I've never read a book like Spinoza's "Ethics". As soon as I put it down I pick it up again. I always keep it near me when I'm at my computer.

[@dogchaser520]

You bear a strong resemblance to Jason Bateman from Arrested Development! Thanks for the lesson. I was looking for someone to break down Ethics to make it easier to understand, and this hit the spot.

[@VocalBear213]

Will you someday cover Marx?

[@redlinefury]

Excellent!

[@MrSkypelessons]

'All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare' SPINOZA

[@Nietzsche_K_Gote]

Man this was a dope KZbin recommendation

[@gerardrikken]

I feel extremely comfortable with Spinoza's philosophy (ontology)

[@MrSkypelessons]

Me too! He has taken ancient Greek wisdom to its logical conclusion.

[@LectorFurtivo]

Thank you for the great lecture!

[@rick6godley]

Can anyone share a link to the Runes version of Spinoza'a Ethics that he mentions toward the end of the lecture please?

[@victorfriedman3989]

I found your lecture very helpful but looked for a free, downloadable version of the Ruse edition of Ethics and couldn't find. Can you helop?

[@JAY-ej8ri]

Dave, please make a video on how to write literary essay!

[@rustyb4nana]

great class! so interesting and helpful

[@martynastreigys279]

Thank you so much for the help! Trying to learn Spinoza in my own free time!

[@shandizuribe]

me too. How are you doing with it?

[@martynastreigys279]

@@shandizuribe Oh I kinda deviated a bit from it, restarting from Locke for epistemology. Spinoza just takes a lot of patience to learn.

[@claudiascott6654]

Thank you-- first video on Spinoza that I could actually understand ( a bit).. I guess I'm a Spinozan!

[@JohnBark]

I really want to read Spinoza's work. Do you have any recommendations for the runes version of Ethics, and where that could be found? Thank you.

[@yasminahaddad226]

Are we divisible because we are a finite thing and not Substance? Thank you for your time, Professor.

[@Julian-jv7so]

Please do more philosophical analyses of other texts!

[@michaelhenline9856]

Thanks so much for doing these videos. Great explanation/presentation :)

[@TarekFahmy]

Great job..where can I get your videos about ancient greek philosophers?

[@MrSkypelessons]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWHUcnd-gaaVi6c

[@jacquelinearana6856]

Could you teach us more about other works ir Spinoza? Please teacher!!!

[@Xenix73]

Thank you for the explanation. The guy writes in a really strange way that makes it difficult to understand. Thanks !

[@loolylooly81]

Listening to this fantastic lecture in January 2021🌺🌷🌸

[@kashifhussainamazai]

Can we get a playlist of philosophy sir?

[@MrSkypelessons]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWHUcnd-gaaVi6c

[@kashifhussainamazai]

@@MrSkypelessons thank you sir... You are amazing 💕

[@weirdguy4948]

I guess aquinas could argue about the unmoved mover right?

[@erinwolf1563]

Excellent 👌

[@ragrle]

Very well done Sr.

[@Ali124hdkflc]

Great video! You should do more on philosophy.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Maybe i will make a philosophy course and sell it.

[@weirdguy4948]

Isn’t everything finite part of infinity tho? So how can one categorize something as passive or active? Or is it more of a type of consciousness rather than a material process?

[@MrSkypelessons]

Yes, it is both. Spinoza's material world of bodies runs in parallel with the mental world of ideas. Bodies never exist in a vacuum; on the contrary, they are determined by other bodies around them, and in this sense, they are said to be 'passive'. We can and must say exactly the same about the world of ideas - they are determined by other ideas. However, we can also argue that bodies can change the bodies around them (buildings, works of art, performances, etc..etc.), and when they do so, they are 'active'. Again, we can and must say exactly the same about the world of ideas. It's rather similar to the grammatical distinction between active and passive.

[@weirdguy4948]

@@MrSkypelessons oh, okey thank you

[@Ronsharo]

@@weirdguy4948 So in regards to influence between thoughts and bodys. Thoughts are influenced by the material world we can feel it all the time. is spinoza saying that the material world might influence a thought but never the less it cannot be the cause of a thought? or is he saying there is no connection whats so ever between the two worlds?

[@bernardoabraham9060]

Very good teaching!

[@owenfriberg8004]

brilliant! thanks for the help!

[@tatianadekun9087]

Hello! Thank you for an amazing lesson . Where could we find the book ? Is it possible to download it somewhere?

[@samdarwiche3741]

Brilliant. Thank you, this was a great help.

[@bluemandabug]

What do you believe instead of the big bang theory? Just wondering :) Thanks for the videos!!

[@MrSkypelessons]

As nothing can come from nothing, the universe is necessarily eternal.

[@ishineandburn]

@@MrSkypelessons would this be compatible with eternal inflation theory - universe expanding and shrinking over and over?

[@danhowser5746]

Question: Is Spinoza a pluralist?

[@sanaafzalmir]

Great video. Thanks

[@MrSkypelessons]

I am always glad to meet fans of Spinoza.

[@travisporco]

He starts "I. By that which is self-caused, I mean that of which the essence involves existence, or that of which the nature is only conceivable as existent." That isn't the simplest thing that has ever been said.

[@MrSkypelessons]

It isn't simple, but it isn't complex either. It is in the nature of both bodies and minds to exist. He is saying that it is impossible to imagine a body or a mind as not existing. I agree. As soon as you imagine a body or a mind, you already imagine it existing, because essentially, a body or a mind exists. When it stops existing, it stops being a body/mind.

[@travisporco]

@@MrSkypelessons I don't get it. A body let's say could well not exist. I feel like I can imagine a lightsaber wielding tiger-unicorn or whatever but it doesn't exist.

[@linayer]

OUTSTANDING

[@montgomerypowers7205]

Interesting feature of quantum mechanics is that something can conceivably come from nothing, as we understand it. Matter and antimatter interact in such a way that both particles are totally annihilated, and mathematically the opposite is theoretically true. A quantum event may randomly occur that generates both matter and antimatter from seemingly nothing.

[@MrSkypelessons]

Such an event is totally hypothetical. If you could make a machine that generated matter from nothing (or from ‘space’ itself), you’d have something to convince me. But until then, this is definitely in the realms of the imaginary, rather than the real.

[@montgomerypowers7205]

@@MrSkypelessons every model is hypothetical regarding the origins of existence. Time and science will bare it out, in the end.

[@MrSkypelessons]

@@montgomerypowers7205 True. But some models yield practical and real results. I don’t see that with Q mechanics and getting something for nothing.

[@andreamartin4233]

Very informative

[@oldhagintthewoods9840]

thank you so much for this video!

[@Anirbit]

Beautiful

[@abdullahharoun6680]

great explanation, thanks.

[@colin1127]

You are fantastic

[@ramseypietronasser2]

You're doing Spinoza a great disservice

[@MrSkypelessons]

Thanks, Ramsey. I do my best.

[@MrMarktrumble]

Very good. Thank you.

[@miltonniola]

Thanks! this was very helpful!