Chapter two deals with the problem of how Spinoza’s metaphysical approach relates – whether in agreement or in opposition – to the past philosophical tradition, from Aristotle to his Arabian readings (e.g. Averroes) of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, including Spinoza’s counter-arguments to both Greek-Arabian “necessitarism” and the naive anthropomorphism of Jewish theology, rooted in the Scriptures themselves. The issue therefore involves the ways in which the concepts of “Natural Law” and “Natural Right” will be formulated in The Western cultural tradition and philosophy, from St. Augustine to Aquinas, and from Duns Scotus to Ockham.
