Religion, Enlightenment and Empire: British Interpretations of Hinduism in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

intentional structure, being a knowledge of individual essences. One might thus wonder whether Spinoza would not have actually criticized, rather than endorsed, the idea of nonduality for its attempt at denying what seems to be the fundamental structure of any thinking activity (its intentionality). These are issues that are rarely debated in current Spinoza scholarship, and even if Carlisle does not reach a final conclusion on this front (could such a conclusion ever be reached?) a great merit of her book is that it brings these questions to the table, acknowledges their importance, and perhaps even reminds readers that it is time they were faced head-on.