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Ideas of Beth Lord, by Text

[American, fl. 2010, At the University of Dundee.]

2010	Spinoza's Ethics

Intro 'Who?'	p.10	21855	Only in the 1780s did it become acceptable to read Spinoza
			Full Idea: It was not until the 1780s that it became acceptable to read the works of Spinoza, and even then it was not without a frisson of danger.
			From: Beth Lord (Spinoza's Ethics [2010], Intro 'Who?')
			A reaction: Hence we hear of Wordsworth and Coleridge reading him with excitement. So did Kant read him?

p.88	p.88	21866	Hobbes and Spinoza use 'conatus' to denote all endeavour for advantage in nature
			Full Idea: 'Conatus' [translated as 'striving' by Curley] is used by early modern philosophers, including Thomas Hobbes (a major influence of Spinoza), to express the notion of a thing's endeavour for what is advantageous to it. It drives all things in nature.
			From: Beth Lord (Spinoza's Ethics [2010], p.88)
			A reaction: I think it is important to connect conatus to Nietzsche's talk of a plurality of 'drives', which are an expression of the universal will to power (which is seen even in the interactions of chemistry). Conatus is also in Leibniz.