In the West, pantheism was formalized as a separate theology and philosophy based
on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza.[10]:
p.7 Spinoza was a
Dutch philosopher of Portuguese descent raised in the Sephardi Jewish community in
Amsterdam.[22] He developed highly controversial ideas regarding the authenticity
of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of the Divine, and was effectively excluded from
Jewish society at age 23, when the local synagogue issued a herem against him.[23]
A number of his books were published posthumously, and shortly thereafter included
in the Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books. The breadth and importance of
Spinoza's work would not be realized for many years – as the groundwork for the
18th-century Enlightenment[24] and modern biblical criticism,[25] including modern
conceptions of the self and the universe.[26]
In the posthumous Ethics, "Spinoza wrote the last indisputable Latin masterpiece,
and one in which the refined conceptions of medieval philosophy are finally turned
against themselves and destroyed entirely."[27] In particular, he opposed René
Descartes' famous mind–body dualism, the theory that the body and spirit are
separate.[28] Spinoza held the monist view that the two are the same, and monism is
a fundamental part of his philosophy. He was described as a "God-intoxicated man,"
and used the word God to describe the unity of all substance.[28] This view
influenced philosophers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who said, "You are
either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."[29] Spinoza earned praise as one
of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy[30] and one of Western
philosophy's most important thinkers.[31] Although the term "pantheism" was not
coined until after his death, he is regarded as the most celebrated advocate of the
concept.[32] Ethics was the major source from which Western pantheism spread.[8]
Heinrich Heine, in his Concerning the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany
(1833–36), remarked that "I don't remember now where I read that Herder once
exploded peevishly at the constant preoccupation with Spinoza, "If Goethe would
only for once pick up some other Latin book than Spinoza!" But this applies not
only to Goethe; quite a number of his friends, who later became more or less well-
known as poets, paid homage to pantheism in their youth, and this doctrine
flourished actively in German art before it attained supremacy among us as a
philosophic theory."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe rejected Jacobi’s personal belief in God as the "hollow
sentiment of a child’s brain" (Goethe 15/1: 446) and, in the "Studie nach Spinoza"
(1785/86), proclaimed the identity of existence and wholeness. When Jacobi speaks
of Spinoza’s "fundamentally stupid universe" (Jacobi [31819] 2000: 312), Goethe
praises nature as his "idol" (Goethe 14: 535).[33]
In their The Holy Family (1844) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels note, "Spinozism
dominated the eighteenth century both in its later French variety, which made
matter into substance, and in deism, which conferred on matter a more spiritual
name.... Spinoza's French school and the supporters of deism were but two sects
disputing over the true meaning of his system...."
In George Henry Lewes's words (1846), "Pantheism is as old as philosophy. It was
taught in the old Greek schools — by Plato, by St. Augustine, and by the Jews.
Indeed, one may say that Pantheism, under one of its various shapes, is the
necessary consequence of all metaphysical inquiry, when pushed to its logical
limits; and from this reason do we find it in every age and nation. The dreamy
contemplative Indian, the quick versatile Greek, the practical Roman, the quibbling
Scholastic, the ardent Italian, the lively Frenchman, and the bold Englishman, have
all pronounced it as the final truth of philosophy. Wherein consists Spinoza's
originality? — what is his merit? — are natural questions, when we see him only
lead to the same result as others had before proclaimed. His merit and originality
consist in the systematic exposition and development of that doctrine — in his
hands, for the first time, it assumes the aspect of a science. The Greek and Indian
Pantheism is a vague fanciful doctrine, carrying with it no scientific conviction;
it may be true — it looks true — but the proof is wanting. But with Spinoza there
is no choice: if you understand his terms, admit the possibility of his science,
and seize his meaning; you can no more doubt his conclusions than you can doubt
Euclid; no mere opinion is possible, conviction only is possible."[34]
S. M. Melamed (1933) noted, "It may be observed, however, that Spinoza was not the
first prominent monist and pantheist in modern Europe. A generation before him
Bruno conveyed a similar message to humanity. Yet Bruno is merely a beautiful
episode in the history of the human mind, while Spinoza is one of its most potent
forces. Bruno was a rhapsodist and a poet, who was overwhelmed with artistic
emotions; Spinoza, however, was spiritus purus and in his method the prototype of
the philosopher."[35]
