Who is Spinoza?

Benedict (Baruch) Spinoza (1632-1677) was a rationalist metaphysician. He was a Jew who was expelled from the synagogue for being unorthodox, and he had little in common with his Dutch neighbors. He wanted to find the good that would so fill his life that the perpetual transition from one object of desire to the next would end. He was a substance ontologist who was a monist. Though he was influenced by both Aristotle and Descartes, he was a powerfully original thinker.