The human spirit can flourish only within a governmental framework of liberty and tolerance.
By RABBI RICHARD BAROFF
Benedict Spinoza was a man intoxicated by thoughts of God. He wrote of the “intellectual love of God.” By this he meant that one should be emotionally transported by contemplation of the divine, which for Spinoza meant that one should also at the same time be contemplating the fabric of the universe.
For the philosopher, God and the universe were ultimately one and the same. This pantheism of Spinoza — identifying God and nature — became the grand vision for which he is best remembered. He also held that one should measure one’s troubles against the immensity of eternity — sub specie aeternitatis. Bertrand Russell, one of the seminal thinkers of the 20th century, considered Spinoza the best-loved figure in the history of Western philosophy.
This was an improbable legacy for a 17th century Dutch Jew descended from refugees from the Spanish expulsion who settled in Amsterdam. The Dutch, themselves liberated from Spanish tyranny, were dedicated to freedom of thought and belief, at least to a considerable extent. The Jewish community felt lucky to be in Holland, and helped to make the Netherlands prosperous. This was the Amsterdam of Rembrandt, wealthy and free. But young Baruch (as he was then called) used that freedom in a particularly daring way. He questioned the divine authority of the Bible by asking if Moses really did write the five books of the Pentateuch; he wondered about the authors of other biblical books as well.
The Amsterdam rabbis knew that their Dutch hosts were tolerant. But would this tolerance extend as far as young Baruch Spinoza would stretch it? They were not about to find out. They excommunicated Baruch, who changed his name to Benedict (Baruch is Hebrew and Benedict is Latin for “blessed”). He lived alone, neither Jewish nor Christian, ironically the first truly secular man. But in reality he was a man devoted to his image of God and the universe blending together.
Later in life, earning his living polishing lenses, he wrote is masterpiece, “Ethics.” But he also had previously written a book on politics, “Theological-Political Treatise.” In it Spinoza maintained that the lifeblood of a healthy society is freedom of thought and speech. It is the sacred responsibility of government to make sure that this occurs. No civilization can flourish without a political environment that promotes liberty.
Spinoza died in 1677 due to a lung ailment related to his lens grinding. He was only in his mid-forties. But he had a contemporary in England who was as powerful a thinker as he: John Locke. Spinoza’s main interest had been to use mathematical logic to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos and the divine, and to show that they were one. Locke’s main interest lay elsewhere. He asked: What can a person know, and how can he or she know it?
In his “Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” he provides answers. He explained how the qualities of objects impress themselves on the human mind; how re-enforcing similar impressions led to memories and concepts over time; how the five senses allow these qualities to come into our minds; how our experience distinguishes between primary qualities (e.g., mass) and secondary qualities (e.g., smell) of objects; and how the objects themselves that produce these qualities must, alas, remain mysteries to us. Locke’s work was groundbreaking, and very different from that of his Dutch compeer.
But like Spinoza, John Locke also turned to politics. In his “Two Treatises of Government,” Locke held that the purpose of government was to ensure life, liberty and property by creating a framework free from tyranny and anarchy. By living through the English Civil War, Cromwell’s dictatorship and yet another revolution, Locke had experienced both. Under the new reign of William and Mary, begun in 1689, Locke hoped for peace and stability, as did most of his countrymen. It was in that spirit that he offered his political philosophy. He believed that ultimately power resided with the people, who support government to prevent chaos, but not at the price of despotism. If a government cannot maintain law and order the people have a right to abolish it. On the other hand, if a government is run by tyrants, that, too, is unacceptable. People should be tolerant of the ideas and speech of others, and the politics of a nation should reflect that spirit.
Spinoza and Locke lived in different countries during the same era — the dawn of the Age of Reason. They were born in the same year (1632). They were different types of thinkers: Spinoza’s mind reached out to compass the entire universe; Locke analyzed the human mind. Yet when they wrote about politics, as they both felt they must, their ideas largely converged. The human spirit can flourish only within a governmental framework of liberty and tolerance. Without establishing this context a society cannot achieve greatness.
The United States of America, founded on Lockean ideas, must always strive to promote freedom of thought and speech through its laws and its institutions. If not, our economic, scientific, cultural and intellectual life will suffer. Bad government will ruin everything else we care about, as it has so often in the past.
Rabbi Richard Baroff, D.D., has been traveling to Panama City to lead services and teach at Temple B’nai Israel about once a month since 2009.