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Spinoza: Desire and Supreme Good, from Philosophizing to Wise

Received: 27 May 2023    Accepted: 26 June 2023    Published: 26 July 2023
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Abstract

If Spinoza is a thinker very present in the Faculties of Philosophy, on the other hand, he is presented as one of the great forgotten of the humanist programs of secondary education. Contrary to what happened with other philosophers, who had more chance of spreading in non-specialized contexts (we can cite Nietzsche, Pascal, Plato or Schopenhauer as obvious examples), Spinoza is generally considered a excessively systematic author, and complex, whose works would have been written for a small group of scholars. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spinoza’s life was full of completely surprising events, from his estrangement from the Jewish community (which repudiated him in a strict and disagreeable way), through his dalliances with heterodox currents which gradually grew in power, until his meeting with Leibniz and his intrepid travels. from one part of his native Holland to another. In this article, we examine the concept of desire in Spinoza's philosophy and its connection to the philosopher's decision to find the greater good. Since the greatest good, in turn, is nothing but its own enjoyment, we conclude that ignoring its existence, seeking it, and living it are, respectively, the conditions of the vulgar, the philosopher, and the wise, as what happened in the Garden of Epicurus.

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 11, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12
Page(s) 56-62
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Desire, Supreme Good, Decision, Joy, Sadness

References
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[4] FREUD, Sigmund, Psychologie des masses et analyse du moi, Paris, PUF, 2019.
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[6] LE BON, Gustave, Psychologie des foules, Paris, PUF, 20139.
[7] ATTIÉ, Joseph, Entre le dit et l'écrit - Psychanalyse et écriture poétique, Paris, Michèle,
[8] CHEMANA, Roland, Dictionnaire de la psychanalyse, Paris, Larousse, 2018.
[9] NIETZSCHE, Friedrich, Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, Paris, Livre de Poche, 1972.
[10] MISRAHI Robert, 100 mots sur l’éthique de Spinoza, Les Empêcheurs dépenser en rond, Paris, Seuil, 2005.
[11] MOREAU Pierre-François, Spinoza: L’expérience et l’éternité, Paris, PUF, 1994.
[12] PAUTRAT Bernard, « Préface » pour la traduction française du Traité de l’Amendement de l’Intellect de B. Spinoza, Paris, Allia, 1999.
[13] RAMOND Charles, Dictionnaire Spinoza, Paris, Ellipses, 2005.
[14] Ackrill, JL (1999). Aristotle on the Eudaimonia. In Nancy Sherman, (Ed.), The Ethics of Aristotle. Critical Essays, (57-58). United States of America: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
[15] Aristotle (1994). Politics. Translation and notes by Manuela García Valdés. Madrid: Gredos.
[16] Aristotle (2002). Eudemian Ethics. Translation and notes by Carlos Megino Rodríguez. Madrid: Alliance.
[17] Aristotle (2009). Ethics in Nicomache. Introduction, translation and notes by Julián Marías and María Araujo. Madrid: Center for Political and Dem-ocratic Studies.
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  • APA Style

    Alla Marcellin Konin, N’Dré Sam Beugre. (2023). Spinoza: Desire and Supreme Good, from Philosophizing to Wise. International Journal of Philosophy, 11(3), 56-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12

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    ACS Style

    Alla Marcellin Konin; N’Dré Sam Beugre. Spinoza: Desire and Supreme Good, from Philosophizing to Wise. Int. J. Philos. 2023, 11(3), 56-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12

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    AMA Style

    Alla Marcellin Konin, N’Dré Sam Beugre. Spinoza: Desire and Supreme Good, from Philosophizing to Wise. Int J Philos. 2023;11(3):56-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12,
      author = {Alla Marcellin Konin and N’Dré Sam Beugre},
      title = {Spinoza: Desire and Supreme Good, from Philosophizing to Wise},
      journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
      volume = {11},
      number = {3},
      pages = {56-62},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20231103.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20231103.12},
      abstract = {If Spinoza is a thinker very present in the Faculties of Philosophy, on the other hand, he is presented as one of the great forgotten of the humanist programs of secondary education. Contrary to what happened with other philosophers, who had more chance of spreading in non-specialized contexts (we can cite Nietzsche, Pascal, Plato or Schopenhauer as obvious examples), Spinoza is generally considered a excessively systematic author, and complex, whose works would have been written for a small group of scholars. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spinoza’s life was full of completely surprising events, from his estrangement from the Jewish community (which repudiated him in a strict and disagreeable way), through his dalliances with heterodox currents which gradually grew in power, until his meeting with Leibniz and his intrepid travels. from one part of his native Holland to another. In this article, we examine the concept of desire in Spinoza's philosophy and its connection to the philosopher's decision to find the greater good. Since the greatest good, in turn, is nothing but its own enjoyment, we conclude that ignoring its existence, seeking it, and living it are, respectively, the conditions of the vulgar, the philosopher, and the wise, as what happened in the Garden of Epicurus.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AB  - If Spinoza is a thinker very present in the Faculties of Philosophy, on the other hand, he is presented as one of the great forgotten of the humanist programs of secondary education. Contrary to what happened with other philosophers, who had more chance of spreading in non-specialized contexts (we can cite Nietzsche, Pascal, Plato or Schopenhauer as obvious examples), Spinoza is generally considered a excessively systematic author, and complex, whose works would have been written for a small group of scholars. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spinoza’s life was full of completely surprising events, from his estrangement from the Jewish community (which repudiated him in a strict and disagreeable way), through his dalliances with heterodox currents which gradually grew in power, until his meeting with Leibniz and his intrepid travels. from one part of his native Holland to another. In this article, we examine the concept of desire in Spinoza's philosophy and its connection to the philosopher's decision to find the greater good. Since the greatest good, in turn, is nothing but its own enjoyment, we conclude that ignoring its existence, seeking it, and living it are, respectively, the conditions of the vulgar, the philosopher, and the wise, as what happened in the Garden of Epicurus.
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Author Information
  • Département de Philosophie, Université Felix Houphouët Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

  • Département de Philosophie, Institut de Recherches et d’études Philosophiques, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

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