Of the translations included here, all but those of the Short Treatise and the Hebrew Grammar are by Samuel Shirley. Shirley’s Theological-Political Treatise was originally published in 1989 by Brill and then republished by Hackett Publishing first in 1998 and then recently, in a corrected version, in 2001. Shirley’s translations of the Ethics, the Principles of Cartesian Philosophy with Metaphysical Thoughts, the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, the Political Treatise, and The Letters were published by Hackett during the past decade. For this volume, the editor has revised and edited the notes and made minor changes in the translations, but the bulk of the writing remains as Shirley translated it. For the Short Treatise we have used the translation of A. Wolf first published in 1910; it has been carefully examined by Bieneke Heitjama and Inge Van Der Cruysse and edited by the editor; Wolf used the older A manuscript of the Short Treatise and presented alternative readings from the B manuscript in notes. We follow his decisions except in a few cases and provide Spinoza’s notes as well as, on some occasions, when important for the reader, alternative versions. In the case of the Hebrew Grammar, we have used the translation of Maurice J. Bloom first published by the Philosophical Library in 1964. Rondo Keele checked the Bloom translation against the Gebhardt text, and some modifications have been made. The Hebrew texts have been completely revised and corrected using the Gebhardt and the French translation of the Hebrew Grammar. In addition, in several cases, the English has been modified and the translation corrected. An explanation of the system of annotation appears before the first footnote of each work. The Chronology of Spinoza’s life and times is based on the chronology prepared by Lee Rice for The Letters.
For complete information about Shirley’s translations, we direct the reader to the editions of his translations published by Hackett, which also have complete notes and full introductions by the editors of the separate texts. Of special assistance are the introductions and notes of Steven Barbone and Lee Rice to The Letters and the Political Treatise and those of Seymour Feldman to the Ethics and the Theological-Political Treatise. The best and most comprehensive recent biography of Spinoza is that of Steven Nadler, Spinoza: A Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
A complete list of the translations used for this volume is as follows:
Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect and Ethics Spinoza, Baruch. Ethics, Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, and Selected Letters. Translated by Samuel Shirley. Edited and introduced by Seymour Feldman. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1992.
Short Treatise Spinoza, Baruch. Spinoza’s Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being. Translated and edited, with an introduction and commentary, by A. Wolf. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1910.
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy and Metaphysical Thoughts Spinoza, Baruch. Principles of Cartesian Philosophy with Metaphysical Thoughts and Lodewijk Meyer’s Inaugural Dissertation. Translated by Samuel Shirley with introduction and notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1998.
Theological-Political Treatise Spinoza, Baruch. Theological-Political Treatise, second edition. Translated by Samuel Shirley. Introduction by Seymour Feldman. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001.
Hebrew Grammar Spinoza, Baruch. Hebrew Grammar [Compendium Grammatices Linguae-Hebraeae]. Edited and translated, with an introduction, by Maurice J. Bloom. New York: Philosophical Library, 1964.
Political Treatise Spinoza, Baruch. Political Treatise. Translated by Samuel Shirley. Introduction and notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000.
The Letters Spinoza, Baruch. The Letters. Translated by Samuel Shirley. Introduction and notes by Steven Barbone, Lee Rice, and Jacob Adler. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1995.