There have been atheist as long as there have been humans.

Albert Einstein said, “I believe in Spinoza's God”

A pretty good commentary. Liked the pictures shown by great artists, such as Bosch, Bruegel, Raphael, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer.

I love the "clicks" between the pictures on display. Reminds me of my college philosophy class in the early '80s. 😀

I’m sorry, but this video doesn’t really explain how Spinoza “invented atheism”. The creator clearly admires Spinoza, lauding him as a tragic figure who was ahead of his time and persecuted for his beliefs, but that can describe lots of historical figures. What were Spinoza’s revolutionary ideas and how did they compare to the conventional thinking at the time? Who were his philosophical opponents and how did they argue against Spinoza - and what were his responses to their critiques? I left this video knowing nothing substantive about Spinoza’s philosophical innovations; just that he was a smart guy who took a lot of heat, and for that reason I should admire him.

Great video, but pls consider dropping the clicking sounds - extremely annoying and takes away focus

Buddha (563B.C- 483B.C), Charvaka (around 500B.C)

The early death of both parents might well render Spinoza an atheist, combined with his massive intellect, which became his idol.

I completely identify with his way of thinking

" To understand is to be free".

Spinoza was a pantheist, right? Is pantheism same as atheism? I think not. Pantheism renders god as identical with nature, because to separate god from nature is to diminish god. This is to me a clever way to render the churches obsolete and is why the assorted monotheisms took umbrage at Spinoza. He was applying Oakham's razor in a most ingenious fashion. I smile when i think he was doing this just to get a rise out of the establishment. If god is the world (and by the way Whitehead said the same thing) then there is less ritual and other nonsense to be concerned with and we can just go about our day's business. How refreshing. And so this is indeed the best of all possible worlds because it is the only one possible.

Hello, 2500 years ago Buddha and Mahaveera were atheist.

What nonsense. Atheists have existed for as long as man has been able to think. “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.” - Seneca

Reason is the workings of the human mind. So Spinoza’s philosophy was as anthropomorphic as any other philosophy of a human. That cannot be escaped.

"The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would also include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved, but who is still unaware of those issues. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist." -George Smith “All children are atheists, they have no idea of God.” -Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach, System of Nature

Agreed. Absurd clicking sound just a distraction..

Spinoza is very, very late to the atheist claim. Most of the ancient Greek Philosophers like Socrates questioned the gods. That was one of the accusations against him. Atheism is as old as intelligence and the rejection of superstition.

Spinoza was first a Jew. His questioning of the chosen people narrative drew enough negative attention from his faith, that he turned to Christianity. His questioning of some Biblical accounts put him in disfavor with Christians. At the time, the Bible and New Testament were considered to be, literally, the word of God. His "Ethics" was an attempt to argue that purely religious scriptures could not be taken "literally". He would have agreed with Jesus' words in Mark; Chapter 12, Verses 29 - 31; the "love God - love thy neighbor" narrative. He would not have taken the "walking on water" or the "fish feeding narrative" literally.

Great video !!

Spinoza was a great man, I have read his books. There are no gods.

If this is AI generated, I have to applaud the pauses and the speech configurations.

Spinoza believed in god, just not a personal god. He knew we created god in our own image but what he didn't get is that the whole concept of there being a god at all was also a human invention. He still talk about there being a perfect being upon which we project our ideas. He didn't get that god itself is just one of those bad ideas. He was definitely NOT an atheist.

A more pertinent question would be who was the first theist.

Music (Beethoven) is from another era!

Spinoza did not call himself an atheist and would not have done so because in his day the term atheist was used almost exclusively as a pejorative. It wasn't until the late 18th century that thinkers began to openly identify as atheists. That was the case with the French priest Jean Meslier who authored a treatise attacking all religions while calling for the overthrow of the French monarchy and the abolition of private property. His Testament was not published until after his death. Voltaire published an expurgated version of it which preserved the book's attacks on the churches while excising most of the politically radical stuff. But it was the Enlightenment philosopher Baron d'Holbach, who was the first person to publicly identify himself as being an atheist.

The title makes the necessity of sound, detailed, careful research/scholarship crystal clear: Spinoza was NOT the first atheist; in fact he was not an atheist. He rejected specific ideas about “God”, but not the entire premise of the existence of such. “Timeless Wisdom” is best displayed by questioning EVERYTHING…including a bold dependence on sweeping claims…Every claim must reflect/be supported by FACTS…

Hello? Epicurus? Lucretius?

I was confused by the picture of Johnny Depp in there. 😉

Baruch Spinoza nicknamed the "God Intoxicated" man was never an atheist and to say he was is simply false.

ALL IS MIND AND WHAT IT MANIFESTS as an individual truth but not a universal truth. Consciousness came before life as a binary self replicating algorithm, which to many is God to others and to yet more others a lie. G'day from Australia 🇦🇺 Dream on.....

Please I beg you, lose the clicking sound... It's too loud and it's annoying. Otherwise, a pretty good brief introduction to Spinoza. *I am Subscriber Number 300*

The first atheists were thousands of years earlier in India.

I’m assuming the first Human to reach emotional maturity, ie adulthood, was the first atheist…

The very first sentence of _Ethics_:"By that which is self-caused, I mean that of which the essence involves existence, or that of which the nature is only conceivable as existent." It is hard to get past that. Why should there be anything at all whose essence involves existence?

Spinoza's description and label of Atheism were unique. However, keep in mind that many ancient traditional and indigenous cultures practiced what is now called Atheism. Buddhism is a clear example of a non-God belief system.

Atheism is the default - we're all born altheists. It's conditioning that makes us religious.

Spinoza departed from the literalist approach and moved towards the allegorical. Origen predated Spinoza by over a thousand years.

" Belief is an escape. The theist is pretending that he knows. The atheist is pretending he also knows that there is no God. Neither the theist has tried to look into existence, nor has the atheist tried. And the atheist’s work is even more difficult than the theist’s work, because the theist is trying to find something - its presence, its existence; at least he has a hypothesis to work upon. The atheist has no hypothesis at all; he begins with the idea, “There is no God.” Then what are you going to seek and search for? For no-God? It is difficult to have the idea of what God is; it is more difficult to have the idea of what no-God is. Perhaps the theist may stumble by chance on God, but the atheist cannot stumble on no-God by chance, because no-God simply means something absent. You cannot stumble on something absent. The theist at least has a possibility of transforming his belief into a hypothesis that, “I don’t believe that God exists, but hypothetically I assume God exists, and I will try to search for him.” What hypothesis can the atheist have? He is denying. Negativity cannot be the hypothesis. Positivity can be the hypothesis. The atheist is in a much more difficult situation. But he is also, in another way, more comfortable than the theist. The theist cannot get rid of the doubt. It is going to remain always underneath his belief. He cannot throw it away. Belief and doubt are two aspects of the same coin. You throw one, and the other also is thrown. You save one, and the other is also saved. But the atheist, in another way, is more comfortable: there is no God - so there is no question of doubt. You cannot doubt something which is not. You can doubt something which is, or may be. But if you have decided there is nothing like God, you cannot doubt. You cannot believe; you cannot doubt. But you cannot progress in your search either. The atheist has thrown away the doubt far more deeply, far more profoundly than the theist. With the theist the doubt is just hiding behind his belief. With the atheist there is no belief to hide; he has thrown the doubt very far away, very deep in the unconscious. Of course you cannot get rid of it unless you know. But you can deceive. The atheist can deceive himself more easily than the theist. Hence atheism has been growing, theism shrinking. As man has become more intelligent, more educated, more cultured, atheism has become more prominent and theism has become something out of date. Even those who go to churches, temples, mosques, synagogues, know deep down that it is all just social conformity. It is good; they use these places just like clubs. They don’t believe; they don’t even bother."

Thank you, Spinoza, for getting rid of the idiots from my heaven

Spinoza was NOT an atheist ⚛️. He was a Diest.

Impossible. No fedora and he looks reasonably healthy and of sound mind.

Atheist and atheism is as old as humanity… it is innate to every innocent being!

Good video, but he was not the first athiest, not even close,

Spinoza was the greatest Jew of all time.

how does one "invent" atheism? atheism is simply not believing in fairy tales with no supporting evidence.

What an idiotic title even though I'm happy to see a publication on spinoza. many other famous philosophers were atheists in the sense of not believing in an anthropomorphic God. Xenophanes and Aristotle were two

Atheism is not am invention.

No , the first Human invented atheism is Epicuro , Spinoza is a Panteism and Deism

Epicurious that you are wrong about Spinoza.

Whoever is making the video is attempting to give the feel of old film with lots of dark spots. It doesn’t look at all like the genuine article. It’s ugly and it’s distracting enough that I can’t watch it. I’m sure your material is interesting, but please stop with the fake “old film” attempts.

We more interested in french astrology, Nostradamus!

SPINOZA WAS, LIKE LEIBNIZ, A GNOSTIC THEOLOGIAN AND FORERUNNER OF GERMAN IDEALISM AND HEGELIANISM. SO, HE WAS NOT AN ATHEIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

That is one of the most idiotic headlines I have ever seen. Nobody knows who the first ANYTHING is.

Spinoza is being abused by you, sir, with your ridiculous clickbait title and this absolutely false and arrogant assertion of "The First Atheist". Humans have lived and thought with ideas similar to (and equally as sophisticated as) contemporary people for thousands of years. Only a naive or ignorant person would have such a limited understanding of our nature and history to suggest otherwise. Get over yourself...

The first atheist? Really??...sigh...

This title is unbelievably stupid. Atheism was not invented. Atheism was there before we made up religion. First humans were atheists, before they made up religion.

Everyone is born atheist, so no!😂

Fanboy video. Just pathetic.

why do you show pictures of catholic priests when talking about Spinsa`s rejection by his jewish community?