An atheist’s God: the paradox of Spinoza

Afgelopen zaterdag, 4 juni 2011, had Alan Saunders, de presentator van het ABC-radioprogramma The Philosopher’s Zone, een gesprek met Beth Lord van het Department of Philosophy, University of Dundee, Scotland, aan wie in diverse blogs aandacht werd besteed. De uitzending is te beluisteren (klik op ABC-logo) 

    The Philosopher's Zone explores the big philosophical questions and arguments. This week on The Philosopher's Zone, we meet Spinoza's god, which might seem an odd thing to do. Baruch Spinoza, one of the greatest philosophers of his day, was expelled from the Amsterdam synagogue in 1656 because of his unorthodox religious views. Ever since, he has been regarded as the great atheist of the Western tradition. Yet he mentions God very often throughout his writings. So this week, we try to reconcile the paradox in Spinoza between his perceived atheism and his constant references to the divine.