The Spinoza Problem

"The Spinoza Problem" ia a new novel by psychiatrist Dr. Irvin Yalom that explores the inner workings of two men--the 17 century Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza and the major Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg--and imagines the unexpected intersection of their lives. Spinoza changed the course of history by paving the way for the Enlightenment, founding the field of biblical criticism and formulating many ideas highly relevant to the field of psychotherapy. The novel also explores the personal development… Show more and inner life of Alfred Rosenberg, who played a decisive role in the Nazi destruction of European Jews.

Though Spinoza and Rosenberg lived three hundred years apart, Rosenberg and the Nazis had a thorny "Spinoza problem": many revered German thinkers, among them Goethe, revered the Jew Spinoza. This paradox is at the heart of this new novel.

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