معرفت ادیان

The election of the Israelites can be considered the most central doctrine in traditional Judaism. In the modern world, which considers rationality to be the center of human life and defends democratic values, the discussion of election has brought many challenges. Spinoza, a 17th-century rationalist philosopher of Jewish descent, had a critical encounter with this doctrine in his theological-political treatise, presenting arguments that consider the Jewish claims to be unjustified and inconsistent with the scripture. Using the descriptive-analytical method, in this article, based on some of Spinoza’s philosophical foundations, we first present his analysis and criticism of this doctrine, which has a strong negative aspect; then we discuss the philosophical explanation of the concept of perfection and true virtue in Spinoza’s thoughts. Spinoza considers Jews to be temporarily chosen from a socio-political perspective, but in the philosophical narrative, he seeks to prove that perfection and true goodness exist only in a rational and moral life at the individual level and in a free society at the social level. He explains perfection based on the concepts of power, activity, and necessity.