Abstract

A neo-Spinozian conception of life and the mind Published in France in 2018, Henri Atlan's book Cours de philosophie biologique et cognitiviste: Spinoza et la biologie actuelle (Odile Jacob, 2018) represents a turning point in Spinoza's interpretations of contemporary life sciences. Henri Atlan is the first in this field of research, of applied epistemology and ontology, to effectively address contemporary questions in biology and cognitive sciences. Atlan presents us with a genuine understanding of Spinoza's monism, which is neither materialistic nor idealistic, and with an expertise in contemporary life sciences that will open an entire new field of research in Spinoza scholarship as well as in philosophy of sciences. Readers will better understand the connection between Spinoza's Ethics, his ontology and epistemology, and modern life sciences, allowing us to rethink the relationship between ethics and modern sciences. Henri Atlan is Professor Emeritus of Biophysics at the Universities of Paris VI and Jerusalem Inja Stracenski is Co-ordinator and Lecturer in the School of Jewish Theology at The University of Potsdam Robert Boncardo is Sessional Tutor in the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at Australian Catholic University.