Why was the great philosopher Spinoza expelled from his Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam? Nadler's investigation of this simple question gives fascinating new perspectives on Spinoza's thought and the Jewish religious and philosophical tradition from which it arose.

• 1: Cherem in Amsterdam


• 2: Abominations and Heresies


• 3: Patriarchs, Prophets, and Rabbis


• 4: The Philosophers


• 5: Eternity and Immortality


• 6: The Life of Reason


• 7: Immortality on the Amstel


• Conclusion


• Notes; Bibliography; Index

Steven Nadler is Professor of Philosophy, and a member of the faculty of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.