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<p class="MsoNormal">The Hampshire College lecture series on Science
& Religion<br>
Title of talk: "Spinoza's God (or Nature)"<br>
Speaker: Dr. Steven Nadler <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/smnadler/web/New_Website/Index.html">https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/smnadler/web/New_Website/Index.html</a>
<span></span>Thursday, March 7 at 5:30 in Main Lecture Hall<br>
</p>
Abstract:<br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> In 1656, the young Baruch Spinoza was
excommunicated from the Amsterdam Portuguese-Jewish community
with extreme prejudice; by the end of his short life he was
regarded as one of the most radical and dangerous thinkers of
his time. Among his alleged "abominable heresies" was, according
to one contemporary report, the belief that "God exists only
philosophically." In this lecture, we will examine Spinoza's
conception of God, whereby God is identified with Nature, and
address the question of whether he is, as is so often claimed, a
"God intoxicated" pantheist or a devious atheist, as well as the
implications of this for his views on religion.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Speaker bio:<br>
Professor Nadler is William H. Hay Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on
philosophy in the seventeenth century, particularly issues in
metaphysics and epistemology, as well as conceptions of reason and
happiness. He has written extensively on Descartes and
Cartesianism, Spinoza, and Leibniz. He also works on medieval and
early modern Jewish philosophy. His two most recent books are a
collection of his papers, <i>Occasionalism: Causation Among the
Cartesians</i> (Oxford, 2011); and <i>A Book Forged in Hell:
Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age</i>
(Princeton, 2011). His new book, <i>The Philosopher, the Priest,
and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes</i>, will be published
by Princeton in spring 2013. He is currently the editor of the <i>Journal
of the History of Philosophy</i>.<br>
<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Thursday, March 7<sup>th</sup> at 5:30pm
in FPH Main Lecture Hall</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>For more information, please visit <a
href="http://scienceandreligion.hampshire.edu">http://scienceandreligion.hampshire.edu</a></span></p>
<span>The lecture hall is accessible. If you need special
accommodations please contact Hampshire College’s Disability
Services Office at 413.559.5423, at least one week prior to the
event.</span>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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<title>CBD to-do list updated and attached</title>
Paula Harmon, Administrative Assistant <br>
<div class="moz-signature"><small> School of Cognitive Science <br>
Hampshire College<br>
893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002 <br>
phone: 413.559.5502 <br>
fax: 413.559.5438 <br>
<a href="http://cs.hampshire.edu">http://cs.hampshire.edu</a></small>
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