Spinoza, Benedict (or Baruch) (1632-1677)

Dutch philosopher. He believed in a rationalistic pantheism that owed much to René Descartes's mathematical appreciation of the universe. Mind and matter are two modes of an infinite substance that he called God or Nature, good and evil being relative. He was a determinist, believing that human action was motivated by self-preservation.

Ethics (1677) is his main work. A Treatise on Religious and Political Philosophy (1670) was the only one of his works published during his life, and was attacked by Christians. He was excommunicated by the Jewish community in Amsterdam on charges of heretical thought and practice in 1656. He was a lens-grinder by trade.