Word: spinoza
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...years of his leadership, he gulped philosophy books, commented on the Bible, flirted with Buddhism, even taught himself ancient Greek in order to read Plato in the original; he had a relentless curiosity about the natural sciences (but no taste for fiction or the fine arts). He would quote Spinoza as if throwing rocks at a rival. Verbal battle, not dialogue, was his habitual mode of communication. Rather than a philosopher, he was a walking exclamation mark, a tight, craggy man with a halo of silvery hair and a jawbone that projected awesome willpower and a volcanic temper...
...John Spinoza Berman...
...study of popular culture has come under the fire of educational traditionalists, who charge that the university is a place to study high art--not vulgar forms of entertainment. They see infinitely more value in a treatise on Spinoza than a paper on Spike...
Judaism is an ancient religion with a complex theology, a comprehensive code of law and a large set of time-honored rituals. And like most religions, it is not very sympathetic to individualism or free thinking. Many forget that Judaism excommunicated one of history's greatest thinkers--Benedict Spinoza--for heresy...
...author aims most effectively for the mind's ear; his fiction is filled with exuberant noise, the din of voices demanding attention, explaining themselves, complaining about the way the world has treated them. "Man has no more freedom than a bedbug," insists one. "In this respect, Spinoza was right." Another tells how jealousy drove him crazy: "I now hated all women. Lifting my hands to heaven, I swore never to marry." The narrator asks, "Did you keep your word?" The laconic response: "I have six grandchildren." Singer's people seldom shy away from expounding on the mysteries of existence: "People...