Diego Donna, Spinoza and the Rise of Systems: Reception and Critique in the French Enlightenment – trans. Brent Waterhouse, Edinburgh University Press, February 2026

Studies the modern and contemporary French reception of Spinoza’s philosophy

• Constitutes a key work for understanding Enlightenment rationality through a critical analysis of Spinoza’s philosophy
• Presents the main forms of reappraisal and critique of Spinoza’s philosophy through the concept of the ‘system’ that contributed to the modern and contemporary epistemological debate
• Offers an image of Spinoza’s philosophy that critically revises historiographic labels (radical Spinozism, pantheism, materialism, atheism, etc.)

This book contributes to the ongoing debate on the contemporary relevance of Enlightenment philosophy by examining – through the lens of the French reception of Spinoza in the Eighteenth century – crucial themes such as virtuous atheism, freedom of conscience, and the tension between the ‘spirit of system’ and the ‘systematic spirit.’

Diego Donna retraces the resistances, conflicts and interpretive ambiguities that the Enlightenment brought to bear on Spinoza’s work. These are all hallmarks of a philosophical freedom that rejects all systems and authorities in the name of a new systematic reason. Donna therefore presents the notion of ‘system’ as essential both for understanding the historical development of Spinozism and assessing the evolution of modern philosophical debate, from the encyclopaedic culture of the Eighteenth century to the systemic rationality of the twentieth century.