스피노자, 산재를 넘어선 철학의 왕자

 

내가 쓴 블로그 독서 부분을 티스토리로 전재하는데,

광고수익을 염두에 두다보니

공개와, 다소의 독자에 대한 서비스, 읽는 이들의 입장이 좀 생각나서 가필을 조금 한다

그리고 아무래도 근래에는 이미지를 추가하는 것이 글만 있는 것보다는 낳은 것 같기도 하고

시대에 comply!

책을 들여다 보진 못했고, 철학개론서에서 개요만 보니, 정확히 뭔지는 모르지만

어제는 블로흐의 희망의 원리 3권 후반부를 읽다보니 불가피하게 한번 위키피디아라도 보게 되었다

찡하다. 이렇게 훌륭한 재원이 "렌즈깍는 grinding lenz"일로 먹고 살다보니, 40대 중반에 요절하게 되었단다.

하루에 몇페니밖에 쓰지 않는 정말로 성자의 삶saintly life, 유대집단지성에서 그리고 종교개혁가들에게서마저 격리된 스피노자, 정작 생활은 파문시킨 사람들을 무색케 했으니, 시절이 무상하다 싶다. 좀 타협좀 하지. 안타깝다

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그 명문 하이델베르크 대학에서 교수로 모시려고 햇으나, 본인이 거절했단다. 저작물에 대한, 생각의 자유가 침해당할까봐

친구 동생의 연금에도 도움을 받았기도 한, 스피노자의 삶이 어째 그리 뭉클하게 와닿는지,

그러면서 괴테가 당연히 생각났다. 1747년 태어나서 1832년 사망한,

참으로 행복해보이는 괴테, 독일어 문화권 최고의 문학이었고, 영국의 쉑스피어에 버금가는, 당시 상대적으로 낙후된 정치/경제 상황의 독일에서 독일어를 자리잡게 한 대단한 괴테

한편 그의 삶이 부럽다

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내가 지금까지 지향했던 삶이 동네 분이셨고, 대학 시절 청강도 했다가 경영학과 학생들은 문학과는 거리가 가장 먼 사람들이라고 지적하는 바람에, 그게 선생님을 뵈었던 마지막 모습이었지만

김태길 교수님은 수업을 그래도 학기 들었으니

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그런데 이런 피천득/김태길 교수님의 길도 지양해보고자 하는 반면

그래야 집사람의 지향과 어느정도 합일될 여지가 있어서일텐데

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그러면서도 못내 안타까운건, 스피노자 같은 사람이다

어째 그리도 힘들게만 사셨는지

요새 같은 드센 시절이었다면, 렌즈깍이 산재문제가 크게 이슈화되었을테지만

세월이 무상하다.

그런걸 문제화할 요즘 기자들과도 다른 사람이었을테니

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하지만, 요즘 기자들, 그 문화와 어느정도는 친해야 할 것이다

너무 너무 이질적이면 불편하다. 왜냐하면 이건 인터넷을 조금만 봐도, 그놈의 뉴스라는게 찰거머리처럼, 지겹도록 따라오는데, 이걸 원천봉쇄하기 어려워서 이다

Baruch (de) Spinoza[13][b] (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677)[17][18][19][20] was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin.[12][18][21] One of the foremost exponents of 17th-century Rationalism and one of the early and seminal thinkers of the Enlightenment[17][22] and modern biblical criticism[23] including modern conceptions of the self and the universe,[24] he came to be considered "one of the most important philosophers—and certainly the most radical—of the early modern period."[25][18][26] Inspired by the groundbreaking ideas of René Descartes, Spinoza became a leading philosophical figure of the Dutch Golden Age. Spinoza's given name, which means "Blessed", varies among different languages. In Hebrew, his full name is written ברוך שפינוזה‎. "In most of the documents and records contemporary with Spinoza's years within the Jewish community, his name is given as 'Bento'",[27] Portuguese for "Blessed". In his works in Latin, he used the name Benedictus de Spinoza.

Spinoza was raised in the Spanish-Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam. He developed highly controversial ideas regarding the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of the Divine. Jewish religious authorities issued a herem (חרם‎) against him, causing him to be effectively expelled and shunned by Jewish society at age 23, including by his own family. Shortly after his death his books were added to the Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books. He was frequently called an "atheist" by contemporaries, although nowhere in his work does Spinoza argue against the existence of God.[28][29][30]

Spinoza lived an outwardly simple life as an optical lens grinder, collaborating on microscope and telescope lens designs with Constantijn and Christiaan Huygens. He turned down rewards and honours throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions. He died at the age of 44 in 1677 from a lung illness, perhaps tuberculosis or silicosis exacerbated by the inhalation of fine glass dust while grinding lenses. He is buried in the Christian churchyard of Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.[31]

Spinoza's magnum opus, the Ethics, was published posthumously in the year of his death. The work opposed Descartes's philosophy of mind–body dualism and earned Spinoza recognition as one of Western philosophy's most important thinkers. In it, "Spinoza wrote the last indisputable Latin masterpiece, and one in which the refined conceptions of medieval philosophy are finally turned against themselves and destroyed entirely".[32] Hegel said, "The fact is that Spinoza is made a testing-point in modern philosophy, so that it may really be said: You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."[33] His philosophical accomplishments and moral character prompted Gilles Deleuze to name him "the 'prince' of philosophers".[34]

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Later life and career

Spinoza spent his remaining 21 years writing and studying as a private scholar.[12]

Spinoza believed in a "Philosophy of tolerance and benevolence"[88] and actually lived the life which he preached. He was criticized and ridiculed during his life and afterwards for his alleged atheism. However, even those who were against him "had to admit he lived a saintly life".[88] Besides the religious controversies, nobody really had much bad to say about Spinoza other than, "he sometimes enjoyed watching spiders chase flies".[88]

After the cherem, the Amsterdam municipal authorities expelled Spinoza from Amsterdam, "responding to the appeals of the rabbis, and also of the Calvinist clergy, who had been vicariously offended by the existence of a free thinker in the synagogue".[78] He spent a brief time in or near the village of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, but returned soon afterwards to Amsterdam and lived there quietly for several years, giving private philosophy lessons and grinding lenses, before leaving the city in 1660 or 1661.[78]

During this time in Amsterdam, Spinoza wrote his Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being, which he never published in his lifetime—assuming with good reason that it might get suppressed. Two Dutch translations of it survive, discovered about 1810.[78]

In 1660 or 1661, Spinoza moved from Amsterdam to Rijnsburg (near Leiden), the headquarters of the Collegiants.[89] In Rijnsburg, he began work on his Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy" as well as on his masterpiece, the Ethics. In 1663, he returned briefly to Amsterdam, where he finished and published Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy", the only work published in his lifetime under his own name, and then moved the same year to Voorburg.[90]

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Lens-grinding and optics[edit]

Spinoza earned a modest living from lens-grinding and instrument making, yet he was involved in important optical investigations of the day while living in Voorburg, through correspondence and friendships with scientist Christiaan Huygens and mathematician Johannes Hudde, including debate over microscope design with Huygens, favouring small objectives[93] and collaborating on calculations for a prospective 40-foot (12 m) focal length telescope which would have been one of the largest in Europe at the time.[94] He was known for making not just lenses but also telescopes and microscopes.[95] The quality of Spinoza's lenses was much praised by Christiaan Huygens, among others.[96] In fact, his technique and instruments were so esteemed that Constantijn Huygens ground a "clear and bright" telescope lens with focal length of 42 feet (13 m) in 1687 from one of Spinoza's grinding dishes, ten years after his death.[97] He was said by anatomist Theodor Kerckring to have produced an "excellent" microscope, the quality of which was the foundation of Kerckring's anatomy claims.[98] During his time as a lens and instrument maker, he was also supported by small but regular donations from close friends.[12]

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Death[edit]

Spinoza's health began to fail in 1676, and he died on 21 February 1677 at the age of 44.[106] His premature death was said to be due to lung illness, possibly silicosis as a result of breathing in glass dust from the lenses that he ground. Later, a shrine was made of his home in The Hague.[107]