The Influence of Abraham Cohen de Herrera's Kabbalah on Spinoza's Metaphysics (Iberian Religious World, 2)

In this book the author seeks to find historiographical and textual evidence that Abraham Cohen de Herrera s main kabbalistic work, "Puerta del Cielo," influenced Spinoza s metaphysics as it is expounded in his later work, the "Ethica." Many of the most important ontological topics maintained by the philosopher, like the concept of the first cause as substance, the procession of the infinite modes, the subjective or metaphorical reality of the attributes, and the two different understandings of God, were anticipated in Herrera s mystical treatise. Both shared a particular consideration of panentheism that entails acosmism. This influence is proven through a comparative examination of the writings of both authors, as well as a detailed research on previous Jewish philosophical thought." Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 List of Abbreviations 8 Introduction 11 Chapter 1 51 The Ontology of Gate of Heaven and Spinoza’s Substance 51 1.1 An Interpretation of Spinoza’s Substance 64 1.2 Spinoza’s Nominalism 73 Chapter 2 93 Early Considerations of Spinoza’s Kabbalism 93 2.1 Arguments, in the Elucidarius, on the Consensus between Spinoza and the Kabbalah 107 2.2 God’s Two Intellects 115 Chapter 3 130 Other Considerations on the Consensus between Spinoza and the Kabbalah 130 3.1 The Doctrine of the Anima Mundi 130 3.2 The Nature of the God of Kabbalah and the Essence of Spinoza’s Substance 139 3.3 Spinoza and the Kabbalah, According to Basnage 152 Chapter 4 165 The Procession of the Many 165 4.1 Divine Freedom, in Gate of Heaven 169 4.2 Origins of the Ṣimṣum 180 4.3 Divine Necessities 193 Chapter 5 201 Inconsistencies of Creation in Time 201 5.1 A Doctrine of Emanation 201 5.2 Creation and Emanation in Herrera 216 5.3 The Fall 223 5.4 Spinoza: The Creation 231 Chapter 6 235 Modes of the Divinity 235 6. 1 The Doctrine of the Infinite Modes 243 6.2 The Parṣufim as Instruments of Restoration 249 Chapter 7 259 The Concept of Causa Sui in Spinoza and Its Prefiguration in Herrera 259 7.1 The Ismāʽīlī’s Conception of the Notion of Causa Sui 262 7.2 Maimonides’ Unknowable God 279 7.3 Plotinus and His Conception of the One as Causing Itself 287 Chapter 8 297 The Forging of the Attributes and the Secret of Immanent Causation 297 8.1 The Perception of the Attributes 302 8.2 The Unknowability of the Immanent Cause 323 Chapter 9 335 Amor Dei Intellectualis 335 9.1 Spinoza’s Panentheism 341 9.2 The Glory of God 359 9.3 Man’s Love Toward God 367 Chapter 10 372 Spinoza’s Acosmism 372 10. 1 The Nature of Divine Love 372 10. 2 The Modes as Appearances 380 Concluding Remarks 397 Bibliography 403 Index of Names 452 Index of Subject Matters 457 "In this book the author seeks to find historiographical and textual evidence that Abraham Cohen de Herrera 's main kabbalistic work, Puerta del Cielo, influenced Spinoza's metaphysics as it is expounded in his later work, the Ethica. Many of the most important ontological topics maintained by the philosopher, like the concept of the first cause as substance, the procession of the infinite modes, the subjective or metaphorical reality of the attributes, and the two different understandings of God, were anticipated in Herrera's mystical treatise. Both shared a particular consideration of panentheism that entails acosmism. This influence is proven through a comparative examination of the writings of both authors, as well as a detailed research on previous Jewish philosophical thought"-- Provided by publisher