Copy of a Letter to M. Hemsterhuis in the Hague: Dialogue with Spinoza

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Pages : 182-197

Doi:10.47124/viraverita.1353367

View : 100 | Download : 143

Publication Date : 2023-12-08

Article Type : Other

Abstract :F. H. Jacobi’s letter to F. Hemsterhuis is one of the key documents of the so-called Spinoza controversy for many reasons. First, it contains a fictional dialogue between Spinoza and Jacobi where the latter provides a detailed analysis of what he takes to be a genuine content of Ethics. Second, it gives an overview of Jacobi’s reception of Hemsterhuis’ philosophy of immediacy which is usually overlooked and ignored. Jacobi’s position both in the letter and the dialogue boils down to three main points: 1/ unlike Hemsterhuis (and the whole generation Wolffian philosophers) Jacobi does not attribute too much importance to geometrical method of Spinozian metaphysics, his main concern lies rather in the absolute rationalism, grounded in the principle a nihilo nihil fit; 2/ against Spinoza (who represents the pinnacle of the rationalist philosophy), Jacobi defends the reality of final cause as the intelligent cause of the world and the possibility of human free will; 3/ instead of reason, he advocates the immediacy of belief based on the feeling which gives us the certitude of being and knowledge without requiring any rational justification.
Keywords : Jacobi, Spinoza, Hemsterhuis, Ethica, ereksel neden, özgür irade.