Steven Nadler
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Steven Mitchell Nadler (born November 11, 1958) is an American/Canadian
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
and
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
specializing in
17th-century philosophy This is a timeline of philosophy in the 17th century. Events * 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher, poet, alchemist, astronomer, cosmological theorist, and esotericist was burned alive at Campo de' Fiori in Rome after being convicted ...
. He is Vilas Research Professor and the William H. Hay II Professor of
Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, and was (from 2004–2009) Max and Frieda Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
. He is also director of their Institute for Research in the Humanities. Nadler has written extensively on
Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...
, Descartes and
Cartesianism Cartesianism is the philosophical and scientific system of René Descartes and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably François Poullain de la Barre, Nicolas Malebranche and Baruch Spinoza. Descartes i ...
, and
Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...
, and engaged with
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and early modern
Jewish philosophy Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until the modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconc ...
.


Education and career

Nadler received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1980 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1981 and 1986. He has taught at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
since 1988 and has been a visiting professor of philosophy at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales and
École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
in Paris, and the
University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...
. In November 2006, he presented at the Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival symposium. In 2007, he held the Spinoza Chair at the University of Amsterdam. From 2010 to 2015 he was the editor of the '' Journal of the History of Philosophy''. In April 2015, he was a Scholar in Residence at the American Academy in Rome. In the same year, he was invited to sit on an advisory board at a symposium held by the
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
Talmud Torah congregation to discuss the lifting of the '' cherem'' on 17th-century Jewish philosopher
Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...
, which had been imposed in 1656 on account of his views on the God of the
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
, which were condemned as heretical.


Recognition

In 2020 Nadler was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


Philosophical work

Nadler's research focus has been devoted to the study of philosophy in the seventeenth century, including Descartes and Cartesian philosophy, Spinoza, and
Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...
. His research also includes antecedents of aspects of early modern thought in
medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...
philosophy and (especially with respect to Spinoza)
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
philosophy.


Personal life

Nadler married Jane Carole Bernstein in 1984. They have a daughter, Rose (b. 1989), and a son, Ben (b. 1991). Rose is a social worker; Ben is an illustrator and writer, who illustrated and co-authored, with his father, the 2017 graphic novel, ''Heretics!''.


Selected publications


Books

* * *Editor, * Editor, ''Causation in Early Modern Philosophy'' ( Penn State Press, 1993) * ''Spinoza: A Life'' (Cambridge University Press, 1999) - Winner of the 2000 Koret Jewish Book Award . Second edition published in 2018. * Editor, ''The Cambridge Companion to Malebranche'' (
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 2000) * Editor, ''A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy'' (Blackwell, 2002) * ''Spinoza's Heresy: Immortality and the Jewish Mind'' (Oxford, 2002) * ''Rembrandt's Jews'' (University of Chicago Press, 2003) - Finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published du ...
in 2004.Pulitzer website
* Co-editor (with Manfred Walther and Elhanan Yakira), ''Spinoza and Jewish Identity'' ( Konigshausen & Neumann, 2003) * Co-editor (with Daniel Garber), ''Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy'' (Oxford University Press, 2006) * ''Spinoza's Ethics: An Introduction'' (Cambridge, 2006) * ''The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil'' ( Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008; paperback, Princeton University Press, 2010) * ''A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age'' (
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
, 2011) * ''The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes'' (Princeton University Press, 2013) * Editor, ''Spinoza and Medieval Jewish Philosophy'' (Cambridge University Press, 2014) * Editor and Translator of Géraud de Cordemoy, ''Six Discourses on the Distinction Between the Body and the Soul'' and ''Discourses on Metaphysics'' (Oxford University Press, 2015) * With Ben Nadler, illustrator: ''Heretics! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy'' (Princeton University Press, 2017) * ''Menasseh ben Israel: Rabbi of Amsterdam'' (Yale University Press, 2018) Jewish Lives Series * ''Spinoza: A Life'' (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2018) * ''Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die'' (Princeton University Press, 2020) * ''The Portraitist: Frans Hals and His World'' (University of Chicago Press, 2022) * ''Descartes: The Renewal of Philosophy'' (Reaktion Books, 2023) * ''Spinoza e Aristotele sull'amicizia'' n Italian(ed. by G.M. Arrigo, Mimesis, 2023) ISBN 9791222304359


Book reviews


Essays

* *


See also

* Philosophy of Spinoza


References


External links


Personal websiteSteven Nadler at UW

Interview on Spinoza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nadler, Steven 1958 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American academic journal editors Academic staff of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam American philosophy academics Columbia University alumni Jewish American academics Jewish philosophers Judaic scholars Spinoza scholars Spinozists Presidents of the American Philosophical Association University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni Scholars of medieval philosophy