Spinoza's Philosophy of Ratio

'Readers will learn from this book that a philosophy of ratio is not to be conflated with a rationalist philosophy. The authors draw on the three senses of ratio - reason, relation and proportion - to explore their interdependence and, crucially, the emergent and constructed conatus towards equality and wellbeing. This valuable book demonstrates that empiricism and rationalism need not be opposed.' Andrej Radman, Delft University of Technology
'This volume represents an important collective re-thinking of Spinoza's key concept of ratio. Along with new interpretations of his treatment of the relations between reason and emotion, it offers fascinating insights into the relevance of his philosophy for understanding contemporary issues in relation to artistic practice, architecture and the built environment.' Genevieve Lloyd, University of New South Wales
Discover Spinoza's philosophy of ratio, from geometry and reason to bodies, affects and architecture
The word ratio means reason, relation and proportion: concepts at the heart of Spinoza's philosophy. From his geometrical method to his theory of mind and body and from his account of the emotions to his doctrine of how to live well, Spinoza's philosophy is a philosophy of ratio.
This book explores the varied dimensions of this keystone of Spinoza's thought. Eleven chapters by prominent authors take you from the geometrical foundations of reasoning to the biologised mind, affective architecture, societal wellbeing, the harmonious cosmos and beyond.
Beth Lord is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen.
Cover image: Wall Drawing #122 (detail): as installed at Paula Cooper Gallery, NY, May 2011. First Drawn by: Sol LeWitt, Steve Ringle. Drawn by: Sachiko Cho, Brianne Caitlin Doak, Lacey Fekishazy, Clinton King, Hidemi Nomura © 2017 The LeWitt Estate / DACS. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Cathy Carver
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Beth Lord is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. She is the author of Kant and Spinozism: Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze (2011) and Spinoza's Ethics: an Edinburgh Philosophical Guide (2010), and editor of Spinoza Beyond Philosophy (2012) and the Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy (2009).

Contents; Acknowledgements; Author biographies; Abbreviations of Spinoza's works; List of figures; Introduction, Beth Lord; 1. Spinoza's Ontology Geometrically Illustrated: A Reading of Ethics IIP8SM, Valtteri Viljanen; 2. Reason and Body in Spinoza's Metaphysics, Michael LeBuffe; 3. Ratio and Activity: Spinoza's Biologizing of the Mind in an Aristotelian Key, Heidi M. Ravven; 4. Harmony in Spinoza and His Critics, Timothy Yenter; 5. Ratio as the basis of Spinoza's concept of equality, Beth Lord; 6. Proportion as a barometer of the affective life in Spinoza, Simon B. Duffy; 7. Spinoza, Heterarchical Ontology and Affective Architecture, Gökhan Kodalak; 8. Dissimilarity: Spinoza's ethical ratios and housing welfare, Peg Rawes; 9. The greater part: How intuition forms better worlds, Stefan White; 10. Slownesses and Speeds, Latitudes and Longitudes: In the Vicinity of Beatitude, Hélène Frichot; 11. The Eyes of the Mind: Proportion in Spinoza, Swift, Ibn Tufayl, Anthony Uhlmann; Bibliography.