Baruch Spinoza

Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza was one of the major rationalists of the 17th century. For his views, he was excommunicated from the Jewish community of Amsterdam and earned his living by grinding lenses.

Spinoza identified God with Nature (Deus sive Natura). Everything that exists is a manifestation of a single substance; God is not a person but the impersonal order of the universe.

His 'Ethics' is constructed by the geometric method — through definitions, axioms, and theorems. He taught that freedom is achieved through understanding necessity.