The rise of modern philosophy a new history of western philosophy volume 3 (new history of western philosophy) ( PDFDrive ) (1) 76

DESCARTES TO BERKELEY But errs not nature from this gracious end, From burning suns when livid deaths descend When earthquakes swallow, or when tempests sweep Towns to one grave, whole nations to the deep? ‘No’ (’tis replied) ‘the Wrst almighty cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws.’ (I 140–5) Malebranche’s teaching that God acts by general laws of nature, rather than by particular acts of providence, was what angered the theologians, who regarded it as incompatible with biblical and traditional accounts of the occurrence of miracles The error was regarded as suYciently wicked to be denounced by the greatest preacher of the age, Bishop Bossuet, in his funeral oration for Queen Maria Theresa of France in 1683 Spinoza Meanwhile, in Protestant Holland, a Jewish philosopher had developed Descartes’ ideas in a way even more adventurous than that of Malebranche Baruch Spinoza was born in Amsterdam in 1632, into a prosperous merchant family which had migrated from Portugal at the end of the previous century His father, Michael Spinoza, a respected member of the Jewish community, ensured that he acquired a knowledge of Hebrew and a familiarity with the Bible and the Talmud at the local rabbinic school When Michael died in 1654 Baruch took over the commercial Wrm in partnership with his brother, but he took much greater interest in philosophical and theological speculation Having spoken Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch from childhood, he now learnt Latin from a Christian physician, Francis Van den Enden, who introduced him to the writings of Descartes and had a considerable inXuence on the development of his thought By his teens, Spinoza had become sceptical of Jewish theology and on becoming an adult he gave up much of Jewish practice In 1656 he was excommunicated from the synagogue and devout Jews were forbidden to talk to him, to write to him, or to stay under the same roof as him He trained himself to grind lenses, and manufactured spectacles and other optical instruments This profession gave him leisure and opportunity for scientiWc reXection and research; it also made him the Wrst philosopher since Antiquity to have earned his living by the work of his hands 61