The Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften: Events

Tuesday, 07 June 2022, 18:00
Venue: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Campus Westend, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Casino, Raum 1.801

Institut für Religionsphilosophische Forschung in cooperation with the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften
Lecture

Michael A. Rosenthal (University of Toronto)
»Spinoza’s Quasi-Fictionalist Account of Religion«

About the lecture

Spinoza is most often portrayed as either a radical atheist, who stresses metaphysical naturalism, or as a romantic, in which God has become infused in nature. In contrast, following the footsteps of several recent scholars, I intend to show that, on Spinoza’s view, religion, although ultimately anchored in the rational order of nature, is mostly an expression of the imagination, born from an existential need to control the circumstances that shape our lives.

(photo: Stefanie Wetzel)

About the lecturer

Michael A. Rosenthal is currently the Grafstein Professor of Jewish Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He was formerly Professor of Philosophy and the Samuel and Althea Stroum Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. He teaches and publishes in the areas of early modern philosophy, ethics, political philosophy, and Jewish philosophy. He is also interested in modern German philosophy and culture and held an adjunct appointment in the Department of Germanics while at the UW. He served as Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Washington from 2011 to 2016 and was acting Director of the Anne Tannenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto in 2021. His current research focuses on the philosophy of Baruch de Spinoza.

In the summer term 2022, Michael Rosenthal is - on the invitation of Professor Thomas M. Schmidt and the Frankfurt Institut für Religionsphilosophische Forschung (IRF) - a fellow of the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften.

Organized by
Institute for Philosophy of Religion (IRF), part of the research association »Dynamiken des Religiösen« in cooperation with the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften and the Institute of Philosophy of Goethe University.

Registration and participation:
Registration is not required, For further information please contact Mrs. Natalie Berg (n.berg@em.uni-frankfurt.de).