It is a general observation that people write as they read. As a rule, careful writers are careful readers and vice versa. A careful writer wants to be read carefully. He cannot know what it means to be read carefully but by having done careful reading himself. Reading precedes writing. We tead before we write. We learn to write by reading. A man learns to write well by reading well good books, by reading most carefully books which are most carefully written. Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing THE JERUSALEM SPINOZA LECTURES OF 1984EDWIN CURLEY Behind the Geometrical Method A Reading of Spinoza’s Ethics Princeton University Press Princeton, New JerseyCopyright © 1988 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Guildford, Surrey All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will be found on the last printed page of this book ISBN 9-691-07322-8 (cloth) 9-691-02037-X ‘paper! ‘This book has been composed in Linotron Sabon type Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Paperbacks, although satisfactory for personal collections, are not usually suitable for library rebinding Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey