Does anyone like Spinoza, "The Prince of Philosophers"?
I read about half of
Ethics as part of a philosophy club I + some co-workers started
I wouldn't say I "like" him - the Euclidean style makes it extremely dry - but I found it very interesting, and I'd like to finish it someday
his metaphysics basically, as I understand them: God is synonymous with the universe (or "nature" if you want), or to put in more modern scientific terms God is synonymous with the infinite potentialities of the expression of matter by the fundamental forces of the universe (gravity, electromagnetic). there's only one substance, which is God (the universe) and which alone can cause itself to be. everything in the universe is a "mode" - one of those infinite potentialities, which is still part of God (the universe) but differentiated (expressed, in the biological sense) by God (fundamental forces). as you can tell, it's difficult to sum up, let alone understand, especially as much of what he said is ambiguous, possibly to avoid accusations of heresy, which was unsuccessful it was the case as we as denounced inaccurately as an atheist.
he is quite a fascinating figure for a number of reasons beyond just his philosophy. part of his reputation lies in his rare achievement of living an actually virtuous life, or at least one in line with his philosophy, turning down worldly honors. his bitter expulsion from Judaism is also a pretty amazing and I believe unique historical episode.