Includes bibliographical references (p. [351]-367) and indexes.

Preliminary Material / M. Hampe , U. Renz and R. Schnepf -- Introduction: Spinoza’s Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata / Michael Hampe , Ursula Renz and Robert Schnepf -- Explaining Explanation And The Multiplicity Of Attributes In Spinoza / Michael Della Rocca -- The One Substance And Finite Things (1P16–28) / Robert Schnepf -- The Problem Of Necessitarianism (1P28–36) / Dominik Perler -- Spinoza And The Theory Of Identity (2P1–13) / Michael Pauen -- The Definition Of The Human Mind And The Numerical Difference Between Subjects (2P11–2P13S) / Ursula Renz -- Spinoza’s Physics (Lemmata Following 2P13) / Stephen Gaukroger -- The Types Of Knowledge (2P38–47) / Christof Ellsiepen -- Conatus: A Pivotal Doctrine At The Center Of The Ethics / Thomas Cook -- Imitation Of The Affects And Interhuman Relations / Pierre-François Moreau -- What Freedom Means / Jens Kulenkampff -- Human Non-Freedom And Disillusionment (4praef–4p18) / Jean-Claude Wolf -- Elementary Features Of Spinoza’s Political Philosophy (4p37s2) / Manfred Walther -- The Theory Of The Good In Part 4 Of The Ethics / Wolfgang Bartuschat -- The Life Of Free Persons Guided By Reason / Michael Hampe -- Ethics As Medicine For The Mind (5P1–20) / Herman De Dijn -- The Third Category Of Knowledge And The Rational Love Of God / Thomas Kisser -- Remarks On The Immortality Of The Soul In Spinoza / Alexandre Matheron -- Spinoza And The Idea Of A Scientific Moral Philosophy / Wiep Van Bunge -- The Pantheismusstreit—Milestone Or Stumbling Block In The German Reception Of Spinoza? / Ursula Goldenbaum -- Bibliography / M. Hampe , U. Renz and R. Schnepf -- Subject Index / M. Hampe , U. Renz and R. Schnepf -- Name Index / M. Hampe , U. Renz and R. Schnepf.

Against the background of religious wars and in full knowledge of the relevance of the new exact sciences of the the seventeenth-century, Spinoza developed one of the most ambitious projects in the history of philosophy: his Ethics written in geometrical style. It is a book that deals with ontology, epistemology, human emotions, as well as with freedom and bondage of individuals and societies, in one continuous line of argument. At the same time, the book combines the highest standards of conceptual and argumentative clarity with a wisdom that is saturated with the experience of life. Even today it sets a standard for enlightened theoretical and practical reasoning. This collective commentary discusses all five parts of Spinoza's Ethics . In the introduction, historical consequences of the Ethics are elucidated, as well as its continued philosophical relevance.