Why Spinoza is Back - Rebecca Goldstein on Spinoza's God and Ethics

Why Spinoza is Back - Rebecca Goldstein on the relevance of Spinoza's God and Ethics today.

Note: video content from the interview with Goldstein is from BigThink. Image overlays have been added.

[buddhismphilosophyscience]

We all define god as that which brought all things in to being. We can prove a God exists because we exist. Were there ever a time nothing existed, nothing would now exist. Therefore there has always been something, even if it was in the form of potential. Though we know a God exists, the question becomes: is it a conscious entity or a natural unconscious process? Science has shown us that energy is the only substance that exists. From it all things are made. It can not be created or destroyed. But it is dynamic and transforms constantly. For the Pantheist, there is nothing but god; meaning there is nothing but the process of existence. If there is nothing but god, there is nothing above or below in objective importance, unlike the traditional religions that claim god is above all. If there is nothing above or below, there is no god in that sense. There is no divine if all is god, because then everything is divine and there is no distinction. If all is god there is no god. Pantheism is atheism, with a twist.

[palladin]

Goldstein is correct that Spinoza was an atheist for the simple reason that he 'disproved' the god(s) of religion, as she said. His definition of God remains the single finest realization of a 'theory of everything' that eliminates logical errors, whether in science, philosophy, religion, politics, ethics, or psychology. Since his definition precludes the possibility of a Spinoza Religion, he is quite thoroughly an atheist, in spite of the fact that he uses the word God to mean nature, or more precisely, the infinite and eternal nature of nature.

[ronaldlindeman]

I'm wondering if you have seen on YouTube 'Matthew Stewart Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic.' Spinoza is central to his theme.

[epcmd]

love her..see her discussion of godel..

[XeMDaRKSiDe]

Hey Oppositum what do you think of the video named:
10 Problems with Spinoza's God

?