Abstract

This dissertation examines the deep similarities between the philosophies of Benedict Spinoza and Martin Heidegger and argues that the two thinkers are more alike than different. The work also puts forth the assertion that the period of the Romantic Reaction involving the poets of this time is the meeting place of the two thinkers. This is suggested because Spinoza inspired the poets of the Romantic Reaction and Heidegger had recourse to the same through the works of Holderlin when later in his career he wanted to find a new pathway to Being. The dissertation examines the similarities between Spinoza's notion of Substance and Heidegger's description of Being. It also argues that the notions of Mode and Dasein are nearly identical. Both thinkers posit an examination of the emotional life of the Mode and Dasein in the respective form of conatus and "Care" in the center of their works the Ethics and Being and Time. Spinoza's third form of knowledge with its emphasis on the role of the Divine that gives birth to the "intellectual love of God" is very similar to what will be called Heidegger's "sight of the gods" or a theory of knowledge based on his notion of the "fourfold." Spinoza's notions of eternity and Heidegger's temporality are examined with the center of this investigation being duration and temporality. The Romantic Reaction is seen as the meeting place of the two thinkers. Spinoza's determinism and Heidegger's freedom are examined. Heidegger's notion of "dwelling" and Spinoza's "intellectual love of God" are seen conceptually being very close. Both thinkers are finally seen as launching and advocating "another beginning" in the history of thought. Deep ties of both thinkers to Hinduism are also examined as well. The connection of both thinkers to the poetry of the Romantic Reaction is also suggested to extend to the realm of film, primarily in the work of Werner Herzog. It is concluded that the thought of Spinoza and Heidegger is very similar