Upcoming Events

2025

North American Spinoza Society 2025 Meeting

May 19-21, University of South Carolina

Monday, May 19, 2025

Keynote Address, 5-6:30pm, Summit East

“Panpsychism, Spinoza’s Way,” Don Garrett, New York University

6:30-7:00pm Welcome Reception

 

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Author Meets Critics, 8:30-9:45, Summit East

“Spinoza: Life and Legacy,” (Oxford University Press), Jonathan Israel (Princeton University) and Steven Nadler (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

15-minute break

  

Symposium 1, 10-11:15

Summit East

“Spinoza on Evil, the Will, and Practical Reason,” Michael Rosenthal, University of Toronto

Comments: Steven Nadler, University of Wisconsin, Madison

 

Close-Hipp 502

“Spinoza and the Puzzle of TP 4.5: the Autonomy and Potentia of Civil Law,” Kevin S. Jobe, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley

Comments: Jacob Zellmer, University of California, San Diego

 

Eastview

“The concept of form in Spinoza’s Ethics: change, alteration, and transformation,” Michael-Francis Polios, Duquesne University

Comments: Huimin Liu, University of Notre Dame

 

Colloquium 1, 11:15-12:15

Summit East

“Theodicy in Spinoza’s Universal Faith,” Thaddeus Robinson, Muhlenberg College

Comments: Julie Klein, Villanova University

 

Eastview

“Parallel Modes of Human Freedom: Scientia Intuitiva and Power Over Emotions,” M. Shane Li, Georgia Institute of Technology

Comments: Tom Cook, Rollins College

 

Close-Hipp 501

“The Reception of Spinoza among the Early Quakers of England,” Laura Arcila Villa, Colorado State University

Comments: Russ Leo, Princeton University

 

Lunch Break 12:15-1:30

Plenary 1, 1:30-2:45, Summit East

“Another Kind of Consciousness?” Karolina Hübner, Cornell University

 

Symposium 2, 2:45-4

Summit East

“The Shift from Epistemology to Ontology in Spinoza’s Theory of ‘Knowing that I Know,’” Syliane Malinowski-Charles, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Comments: Don Garrett, New York University

 

Eastview

“Together Alone? Examining the Freedom and Isolation of the Philosopher in Spinoza’s Ethics,” Sanem Soyarslan, NC State University

Comments: Andrea Sangiacomo, University of Groningen

 

Close-Hipp 501

“Governing Through Affects: Spinoza on The Political Uses and Abuses of Passive Joys,” Ahmet Aktas, Purdue University

Comments: Daniel Schneider, University of Wisconsin at La Crosse

 

Colloquium 2, 4-5

Summit East

“The Idea of Human Perfection in Spinoza from the Early Works to the Ethics,” Mélanie Zappulla, Université Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne

Comments: Robert McQueen, Boston College

 

Eastview

“A Spinozan Defense of Political Anger,” Francesca di Poppa, Texas Tech University

Comments: Keith Green, East Tennessee State University

 

Close-Hipp 501

“Adequate Ideas of God: A Resolution to Spinoza's Epistemic Challenge at 2p47,” James Emery, Purdue University

Comments: Harmen Grootenhuis, University of Graz

 

6:30pm Party at Matt’s house, 2227 Terrace Way, 29205

 

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Plenary 2, 8:30-9:45, Summit West

“Spinoza’s Yoga: A Cross Cultural Reading,” Andrea Sangiacomo, University of Groningen

15-minute break

 

Symposium 3, 10-11:15

Summit West

“Individuals and Individuality in Spinoza – A Restricted Reading of Spinoza’s Concept of ‘Individual,’” Dafna Mark-Ben Shabat, University of California, San Diego

Comments: Sam Newlands, University of Notre Dame

 

Westview

“Epistemic Democracy and Spinoza’s Political Epistemology,” Ericka Tucker, Marquette University

Comments: Jack Stetter, University of Wisconsin, Madison

 

Close-Hipp 501

“They’ll Always be With You: Spinoza, Love, and Eternal Minds,” Ian MacLean-Evans, York & Carleton University

Comments: Noa Lahav Ayalon, Harvard University

 

Colloquium 3, 11:15-12:15

Summit West

“Spinoza’s Dual Pleasure Problem,” Brandon Smith, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Comments: Wangchen Zhou, Yale University

 

Westview

“Spinoza’s Relational Definitions, Leonardo Moauro,” Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Comments: Ryan Foster, KU Leuven

 

Close-Hipp 501

“Coltrane Plays Spinoza,” Ryan J. Johnson, Elon University

Comments: Hasana Sharp, McGill University

 

Lunch Break 12:15-1:15

Colloquium 4, 1:15-2:15

Summit West

“Jus sive potentia – a commentary on Spinoza’s conception of rights,” Viviane Magno Ribeiro, PUC-Rio & SUNY Stony Brook

Comments: Aminah Hasan-Birdwell, Emory University

 

Westview

“The role of the affects in Spinoza’s constitution of temporal metric,” Dario Zoppetti, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Comments: Emanuele Costa, Vanderbilt University

 

Colloquium 5, 2:15-3:15

Summit West

“Overcoming the determinatio est negatio: Schelling’s Freiheitsschrift,” Jonathan Laldinsanga Fanai, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai.

Comments: Kas Bernays, University of St Andrews, University of Pennsylvania

 

Westview

“On the paradoxical productivity of sad passions,” Rafael Muñiz-Pérez, Universidad Rosario Castellanos

Comments: Bahar Mirteymouri, Vanderbilt University

Past Events

2024

NASS Junior Scholars Event

A philosophical salon and venue for scholarly feedback. The event facilitates networking between junior and senior scholars, and exchanging projects, ideas, and sources pertaining to research related to Spinoza.

May 6, 2024

2022

“Decolonizing” Spinozist Infinity: Reading Spinoza’s Non-“Western” Influences and Reception

12pm – 2pm U.S. Eastern Time

May 6, 2022

This meeting will take place on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94598930370

Chair: Professor Julie Klein

Luce deLire, “Spinoza and Ibn Sina on Substance and Actual Infinity”

Gilah Kletenik, “Spinoza and Maimonides on the Indeterminacy of Infinite Substance”

Sina Mirzaei, “Spinoza’s Pantheism in Twentieth-Century Iran”

Luce is currently finalizing her dissertation titled “No Limits - No Regrets: Spinoza’s Metaphysics of Infinity” with Yitzhak Melamed at Johns Hopkins University.

Gilah is Postdoctoral Associate at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies at Boston University. Currently, Kletenik is completing her book manuscript, Sovereignty Disrupted: Spinoza and the Disparity of Reality.

Sina is a PhD Student at Johns Hopkins University. He has previously studied philosophy in Iran and in the Netherlands as a visiting researcher for two years.

Central APA 2022:

Human relations and Necessitarian Metaphysics in Spinoza

Wednesday, 2/23, 8-11pm

Chair: Justin Steinberg (Brooklyn College, CUNY)

Sanem Soyarslan (NC State) - “Two Kinds of Friendship in Spinoza’s Ethics"

Raffaella Colombo (Università degli Studi di Milano) - "'One Like Us': Towards a Spinozian Pedagogy of Indignation"

Brandon Rdzak (Purdue University) - "Spinoza’s Necessitarian Modal Metaphysics and the Threat of Contingency"

2021

Eastern APA 2021:

Spinoza, South and North

Organizers: Jimena Solé and Julie Klein

Jimena Solé (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) - “Knowledge as Action. Rethinking Spinoza's Philosophical Project”

Sergio Rojas Peralta (Universidad de Costa Rica) - “Affect, Memory and Empathy in Spinoza”

Guillermo Sibilia (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) - “Into the flesh of the social? Spinoza and the Question of Democracy”

2021 Author Meets Critics:

Sandra Field’s Potentia (OUP, 2020) Cavendish, and Conway

Chair: Moira Gatens (University of Sydney)

Speakers: Sandra Field , Justin Steinberg , Sharon Lloyd, and Yitzhak Melamed

Pacific APA 2021:

Talks by Nadler, Klein, and Matyasi

Justin Steinberg (Brooklyn College) (chair)

Steven Nadler (University of Wisconsin) - "Spinoza vs. Aristotle on Friendship"

Julie Klein (Villanova) - "Spinoza's Critique of Prejudice"

Robbie Matyasi (University of Toronto) - "Spinoza’s Modest Realism About Universals"

NASS on ZOOM 2021:

Talks by Marshall and West

Organizer and Chair: Kristin Primus (Berkeley)

Speakers:

Eugene Marshall (Florida International University): "Spinoza on the Value of Roleplay"

Aaron West (UCLA): "Understanding (in) 1ax4: From Cognition to Definition and Essence and Back"

2020

Eastern APA 2020:

Spinoza, Cavendish, and Conway

Session organized by Julie Klein (Villanova)

Aminah Hasan-Birdwell (Columbia University) “Spinoza and Conway on Time, Duration, and Perfection”

Alison Peterman (University of Rochester) “Cavendish and Spinoza on Holist Explanations”

Nastassja Pugliese (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) “Conway’s Critique of Spinoza and the Metaphysics of Transmutation”

Pacific APA 2020:

Spinoza’s Minds

Session organized by Kristin Primus (Berkeley)

Aaron West (UCLA): "Understanding (in) 1ax4: From Cognition to Definition and Essence and Back"

Raphael Krut-Landau (University of Pennsylvania): "The middle standpoint in Spinoza's Ethics"

Eugene Marshall (Florida International University): “Reconsidering a Central Feature of Spinoza’s Psychology”

Central APA 2020:

Sessions Organized by Christopher Martin (University of Toledo)

What are Attributes in Spinoza’s Ethics?

Steve Barbone (San Diego State University) "Priority among Attributes"

John Grey (Michigan State University) “Nature and Power in Spinoza’s Account of Composition”

Thaddeus Robinson (Muhlenberg College) "Quantity and Spatial Extension in Spinoza's Ethics"

Jack Stetter (Loyola University New Orleans) "Divine Expression in Spinoza"  

Essences in Spinoza’s Ethics

Chair: Kiesha Martin (Marquette University), Chair

Christopher Martin (University of Toledo) “Spinoza’s Quick Reversal on his Definition of an Essence”

Galen Barry (Iona College) “Feuerbach's Spinozistic Argument for an Infinite Human Nature"

Torin Doppelt (Independent Scholar) “The Necessity of Natures: Geometrical Conclusions"

Matthew Homan (Christopher Newport University) "The Peculiar Common Notions of E2p39"  

2019

Eastern APA 2019:

Spinoza on Goodness, Freedom, and the State

Session Organized by Andrew Youpa (SIU)

Michael LeBuffe (University of Otago) 

Steven Nadler (University of Wisconsin, Madison) 

Sanem Soyarslan (North Carolina State University) 

Central APA 2019:

Knowledge and Happiness

Session organized by Karolina Hubner (Toronto), Justin Steinberg (CUNY) 

Chair: Kristin Primus (UC Berkeley)

Don Garrett (New York University), "Panpsychism, Spinoza's Way"

Sanem Soyarslan (North Carolina State University), "Spinoza’s Account of Blessedness Explored Through an Aristotelian Lens"

John Grey (Michigan State University), "Spinoza’s Case against Introspective Self-Knowledge"

 

2018

Central APA 2018:

Organized by Torin Doppelt and Sarah Kizuk of the Spinoza Society of Canada

Nastassja Pugliese (University of São Paulo and University of Georgia) “Imagination as an Intellectual Tool: The Case of Spinoza and Ovid”

Matthew Homan (Christopher Newport University) “Spinoza’s Embrace of Cartesian Circularity”

Jason Yonover (Yale University) “Spinoza and the Folk PSR”

André Menezes Rocha (Université du Québec à Trois Rivières) “La Méthode Expérimentale et les Définitions Réelles chez Spinoza” 

Vice and Virtue in Spinoza’s PHilosophy

Sessions organized by Andrew Youpa (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)

Clayton Bohnet (Gonzaga University) “The Temptations of Egoism and the Courtesy of Desire: An Essay on the Difference between Nobility and Ambition” 

Torin Doppelt (Queen’s University) “A Sadness Born of a Fact: A Study of Spinoza’s Humility”

Christopher Martin (University of Wisconsin–Green Bay) “Spinoza on Virtuous and Vicious Essences”

Sanem Soyarslan (North Carolina State University) “Rethinking the Usefulness of Sad Passions as a Means Towards Virtue in Spinoza’s Ethics” 

Lilli Alanen (Uppsala University) “Spinoza on Passivity, Active Joy, and Love of God”

John Carriero (University of California, Los Angeles) “Spinoza on Ends: Fantasy Physics and Our Self- Conception as Agents”

Karolina Hübner (University of Toronto) “Spinoza’s Conceptual Barrier”

Olli Koistinen (University of Turku) “On the Incomprehensibility of the Ethics”

Pacific APA 2018:

Spinoza’s Psychology

Karolina Hübner (University of Toronto) “Spinoza’s Metaphysical Psychology”

Valtteri Viljanen (University of Turku) “Spinoza on Activity and Passivity: The Problematic Definition Revisited” 

Justin Steinberg (Brooklyn College) “Seeing the Better Better: A Spinozistic Account of Belief Revision and Moral Reform” 

Contemporary Spinoza

Kristin Primus (University of California, Berkeley) “Spinoza’s Metaphysics”

Sandra Leonie Field (Yale-NUS College) “Spinoza’s Politics”

Anat Schechtman (University of Wisconsin– Madison) “Spinoza’s Epistemology”

Michael Rosenthal (University of Washington)

Julie Klein (Villanova University)

2017

Central APA 2017:

Spinoza’s Philosophy of Religion

Session organized by Ericka Tucker (Marquette)

Idit Dobbs-Weinstein (Vanderbilt)

Ursula Goldenbaum (Emory) – “Leibniz and Spinoza on Common Ground about Faith as the Genuine Basis of Religion.”

Jack Stetter (Université Paris 8) – "In What Sense is Spinoza's Free Man Religious?"

Rodolfo Garau (Max-Planck-Institute/Penn) – “Spinoza’s anti-Anthropocentric Idea of Divine Providence.”

Monism

Session organized by Ericka Tucker (Marquette)

Alex Silverman (University of Chicago) – “Monism and the Development of Spinoza’s Philosophy”

James Darcy (University of Virginia) – “The Identity of Indiscernibles and the Argument for Monism.”

Galen Barry (University of Virginia)–  “Plenitude and Monism”

Brandon Rdzak (Purdue) – “Spinoza, Causation, and Creation ex Nihilo”

Christopher Martin (University of Wisconsin, Green Bay) –  “Spinoza’s Platonic Deity”

2016

Central APA 2016:

Spinoza’s Politics

Sessions Organized by Ericka Tucker (Marquette)

Michael Lebuffe (University of Otago) - “Reason and Religion in the Citizen of Spinoza’s State”

James Ong (High Point University) - The philosophical and political significance of Spinoza’s ‘free people’

Céline Hervet (Université de Picardie-Jules Verne) - "Councils, Syndics, Senate and the Power of Speech in Spinoza's political philosophy: a Naturalistic Source of Deliberative Democracy?"

James Sikkema (McMaster University) "Joining Forces: Towards a Virtual-Political Mereology in Spinoza" 

Sandra Field (Yale-NUS) “Aristocracy and the Logic of Spinoza”

Edwin Curley (Michigan) “On the Social Contract in Spinoza”