ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the philosophy of the seventeenth-century philosopher Spinoza in relation to deep ecology. Deep ecologists, especially Arne Naess, draw on Spinoza’s metaphysics to ground the doctrine of self-realization and to substantiate the tenets examined in Chapter 1. Although Naess favours Spinoza’s metaphysics as a ground for deep ecology, Naess’s own interpretation of Spinoza’s work, particularly the Ethics, often contradicts itself. This makes the suitability of Spinoza’s metaphysics for deep ecology unclear.
