Spinoza over individuen en individuatie
Recent kwam ik een proefschrift tegen, waarop ik graag wil wijzen – kan van pas komen voor wie Spinoza’s theorie over het individu en de individu-wording wil bestuderen:
Matthew David Wion, B.A., M.A., SPINOZA ON INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUATION: METAPHYSICS, MORALS, AND POLITICS. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 2011
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy [PDF]
Abstract: This dissertation examines Spinoza's position regarding the relationship of the individual to the community and to other individuals in the context of a particular reading of Spinoza's metaphysics as holistic. By the term "holistic metaphysics," I refer to a view of reality as a unified whole rather than as a collection of entirely separate parts. The latter I call a "reductionistic metaphysics." If a reductionistic metaphysics tends to see individuals as essentially separate and only secondarily relational, a holistic metaphysics pictures individuals as primarily relational and only by means of their relations capable of any meaningful "separateness" from other individuals. The reading advanced here concludes that Spinoza holds that individuals cannot ultimately be separated from the larger environment and network of relationships of which they are always a part. This dissertation concludes with brief set of reflections on the potential implications of this "relational" understanding of individuals in the realms of morals and politics. How Spinoza might view the issue of "universal health care" in the context of his holistic metaphysics is singled out for specific consideration.
Om een indruk te geven tevens de Table of Contents:
I. OUTLINE OF SPINOZA'SMETAPHYSICS
The Central Metaphysical Concepts
Spinoza's Theory of Distinctions
Spinoza’s Metaphysical Holism
II. SPINOZA'S INDIVIDUALS AND PROBLEMS WITH HIS ACCOUNT
Cartesian Physics
Spinoza on Minds and Bodies
Spinoza's Physics
Organism and Teleonomy
III. INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY
Matheron's Contribution
Spinoza's Theory of the State
The State as an Individual
The State as a Metaphorical Individual
Rice’s Contribution
IV. EGOISM IN THE CONTEXT OF RELATION AND AUTONOMY
Curley's Case for Spinoza as Egoist
Bennett on Spinoza's Egoism
Feminist Readings of Spinoza's Individuals
Armstrong's Contribution
Spinoza on Friendship and Love
Rice on Spinoza’s Radical Individualism
V. SOME CLOSING NOTES ON THE POLITICAL AND MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF SPINOZA'S THEORY Of INDIVIDUALS
Spinoza and Health Care Coverage
BIBLIOGRAPHY
