Provides a coherent picture of reality, and a guide to the meaning of an ethical life. This book follows a logical format, it defines in turn the nature of God, the mind, the emotions, human bondage to the emotions, and the power of understanding.

'The noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers ... ethically he is supreme' Bertrand Russell

Published shortly after his death in 1677, the Ethics is Spinoza's greatest work - a fully cohesive philosophical system that strives to provide a picture of reality and to comprehend the meaning of an ethical life. It defines in turn the nature of God, the mind, human bondage to the emotions and the power of understanding - moving from a consideration of the eternal, to speculate upon humanity's place in the natural order and the path to attainable happiness. A work of elegant simplicity, the Ethics is a brilliantly insightful consideration of the possibility of redemption through philosophical reflection.

Translated by Edwin Curley with an Introduction by Stuart Hampshire