The Courtier and the Heretic

Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World

By: Matthew Stewart

Narrated by: Graham Rowat

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Once upon a time, philosophy was a dangerous business-and for no one more so than for Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth-century philosopher vilified by theologians and political authorities everywhere as "the atheist Jew." As his inflammatory manuscripts circulated underground, Spinoza lived a humble existence in The Hague, grinding optical lenses to make ends meet. Meanwhile, in the glittering salons of Paris, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was climbing the ladder of courtly success. In between trips to the opera and groundbreaking work in mathematics, philosophy, and jurisprudence, he took every opportunity to denounce Spinoza, relishing his self-appointed role as "God's attorney."

In this exquisitely written philosophical romance of attraction and repulsion, greed and virtue, religion and heresy, Matthew Stewart gives narrative form to an epic contest of ideas that shook the seventeenth century—and continues today.

©2006 Matthew Stewart (P)2024 Tantor

A Fascinating and Surprisingly Comprehensive Work

The book description didn't help me gather an accurate impression of the subjects of discussion undertaken in this work, so I started this audiobook with a fascination toward the rationalist school and almost no expectations.

What I recieved was a fairly comprehensive historical account of the lives of Spinoza and Liebniz, both leading up to their meeting in The Hague and the years that followed, in addition to an overview and analysis of the philosophophical writings they offered, detailing how the surrounding cultures and perspectives reacted to the acquaintance with the controversial figures' ideas. I honestly didn't expect this book to cover so much material, but was pleasantly surprised to discover actual discussion of the philosophical ideas. What I found to be particularly entertaining was the evolution that Liebniz' perspective takes upon encountering Spinoza's writings, first secretly finding them rationally compelling (although feigning disgust to them when writing to certain correspondents in a series of perfidious missives) and then ultimately reviling them following their meeting in The Hague. The author clearly did his/her research, and much of the private correspondence between Liebniz, Spinoza, and many surrounding characters have been assiduously studied and articulated here in attempt to illuminate the reader with a cohesive and satisfying account of the context within which the development of the Rationalist's thinking flourished. Much to my surprise, even Liebniz' private annotations of The Ethics were discussed, among other things. Overall, I was very impressed with the scope of this book and the depth within which the material was presented.

One minor qualm I have is that Spinoza's philosophy is occasionally misrepresented, some mistakes repeatedly showing up, e.g. the confusion that Spinoza held materialist inclinations with respect to the philosophy of mind, etc. The author delivered some questionable representations of some of Liebniz' ideas too, but these are not very serious concerns given the obscurity of much of these philosophers' ideas and the apparent focus of this work on the history, though I thought it worth mentioning anyway.