Citation

Cortés-Cuadra JV. Revue Philosophique de Louvain 2019; 117(1): 31-62.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019)

DOI

10.2143/RPL.117.1.3287046

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present article seeks to bring to light Spinoza's view of life as it emerges from E4p39s. The aim is to show that his view must be understood on the basis of two fundamental notions: those of individual " form " and of " memory ", as they are envisaged in Ethics II. In this way the article attempts to show that Spinoza's concept of life answers a fundamental question in modern philosophy, namely that of the identity of an individual in time. This enables us to give a better account of the example of the " Spanish poet " in E4p39s, who is described in the present study as a " death in life ". Finally, by means of a comparison of this phenomenon with that undergone by Albert Burgh, Spinoza's friend who converted to catholicism, it has been possible to distinguish what can be called a " suicide while alive ", which cannot be understood as a living transformation outside the context of conversion. Another study is to follow this one, in which the phenomena of conversion and rebirth in Spinoza will be dealt with in greater detail. © 2019 Revue Philosophique de Louvain.

Language: fr