Baruch Spinoza Quotes
A commonwealth then is so far independent, as it can plan and provide against oppression by another, and so far dependent on another commonwealth, as it fears that other's power
Spinoza was one of the most feared intellectuals in human history—feared that is by the established power structures. He is the only known person who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims. He was the enemy of authority and advocated personal reason as the guide for men.
Benedict Spinoza, 1632-1677, Dutch Philosopher, Tractatus Politicus, 1677
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Article 9 of the 1946 Japanese constitution that was imposed on Japan {604739} severely limited Japan’s military. Emperor Hirohito asked privately how Japan would be protected.
The highest court in New York. This was the generally accepted view of international law until WWII when atrocities and crimes against humanity were coped with. Also, at the time of this writing America was a small emerging state and not one of the great powers. Hence the prohibition of even commenting on the internal affairs of another nation was important to us. Now that America is a superpower, and society is more concerned with human rights, the point of view has changed.
His appeal was also in the name of concurring heads of state of Finland, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Luxemburg, and Sweden.
This is the kind of threat that was used by Germany before the First World War. It worked with Turkey, but King Albert realized that being an “ally” of Germany meant losing independence anyway. Belgium would not join Germany, so the Germans invaded Belgium in 1914. Belgians fought with the allies and at the end of WWI, they were able to rebuild their independent state and thrive until they were again invaded by Germany in WWII. Turkey, in contrast, lost their entire empire, as a result of their fighting as German allies in WWI.
Baruch (de) Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardi origin. One of the early thinkers of the Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. Inspired by the groundbreaking ideas of René Descartes, Spinoza became a leading philosophical figure of the Dutch Golden Age. Spinoza's given name, which means "Blessed", varies among different languages. In the Netherlands he used the Portuguese name Bento. In his Latin and Dutch works, he used Latin: Benedictus de Spinoza.
