Santayana and His "Hero"

doi:10.1558/eph.v22i2.26141

Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, Vol 22, No 2 (2014)

Santayana and His "Hero"

Daniel Spiro

Issued Date: 17 Apr 2015

Abstract

The philosophy of George Santayana is best considered as a complement to that of Spinoza, to whom Santayana once referred as his “hero.” Like Spinoza, Santayana refused to accept any God steeped in revelation or mythology, yet he appreciated Spinoza’s wisdom in reclaiming the name of God non-anthropomorphically. For Santayana, God symbolizes a single “omnificent” natural power that transcends human understanding. Santayana went beyond his hero by striving to love not merely the real but also the ideal. We should view people and things in their greatest possible beauty, and love them with depth and passion.

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DOI: 10.1558/eph.v22i2.26141

References

Santayana, George. 1905. Reason in Common Sense. New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons.

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Yovel, Yirmiyahu. 1989. Spinoza and Other Heretics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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