«Douglas J. Den Uyl’s ‘God, Man, and Well-Being’ has the uncommon merit of combining the sophistication to be of real interest to students of Spinoza with the clarity and accessibility to draw new readers into the study of Spinoza’s philosophy. The connections Den Uyl elaborates between politics, ethics, and metaphysics keep those aspects of Spinoza’s thought in balance in an especially illuminating way. ‘God, Man, and Well-Being’ helps the reader appreciate the intricacy of Spinoza’s thought and his role in the formulation of distinctively modern understandings of the issues indicated in the title. This book is a welcome addition to the scholarship on Spinoza and will helpfully guide readers through Spinoza’s thought in a way that is also alert to contemporary concerns.» (Jonathan Jacobs, Richard J. and Jean Head Professor of Philosophy, Director, Center for the Arts and Humanities, Colgate University)<br /> «Commencing with Spinoza’s politics and focusing upon the human dimension of his thought, Douglas J. Den Uyl renews Spinoza’s significance not only for modernity but for our world today. In lucid and at times almost startling ways Den Uyl leads us to appreciate that politics for Spinoza is not in fact instrumental to human flourishing and that central to his thought is reflection on a deeply anti-political individual perfection. Den Uyl’s unusually thoughtful study offers convincing arguments such as the view that though free will is denied in Spinoza and little ethics is on display in any normal sense, it is nonetheless freedom that is the core notion and foundational pursuit at the heart of Spinoza’s undertaking.» (Stephen A. Erickson, Professor of Philosophy and E. Wilson Lyon Professor of Humanities, Pomona College)