Notas sobre Espinosa e o Barroco

Notes on Spinoza and the Baroque

Abstract

In this study we briefly expose, from a set of articles published in the Chronicon Spinozanum magazine, one of the main theses of Carl Gebhardt, namely, that Spinoza would be the great expression of the Baroque, that is, that the categories of his philosophy would be the authentic and systematic translation of the culture of his time. By showing the origin of the concepts of period and style, which Gebhardt takes from Heinrich Wolfflin in his seminal work on the transition of styles in architecture, between the Renaissance and the Baroque, we discuss the meaning of Gebhardt’s position in the German intellectual context at the beginning of the 19th century. 20th century. In a second moment, we apply the characteristics and formulations of the Baroque traced by Gebhardt to a concrete case of paramount importance for Spinoza’s philosophy and for his time: the
notion of actual infinity. Our purpose at this point is to investigate the intricate conception of infinity present in Spinoza, based on the presence of Hasdai Crescas in his thought. Finally, we evaluate that the presence of formulations from Gothic medieval Spain in a matter of absolute centrality of modernity is an exemplary case of the validity of Gebhardt’s thesis that sees the Baroque erupting in the appreciation of the infinite and in the morphogenic forces of the Renaissance and Spain of the Gothic period that find their melting point in Spinoza.

Keywords: Gebhardt, Infinity, Spain, Baroque, Gothic, Crescas