Bernard Susser

The Spinoza Quartet: a Philosophical Novel Bernard Susser

The Spinoza Quartet follows four distinguished contemporary scholars of Spinoza's thought as they meet in Amsterdam to receive the Spinoza Prize. The four come from Jerusalem, San Diego, Vienna and New York, each with a different take on Spinoza's thought and very different temperaments and worldviews, and almost immediately the sparks fly. At several luncheons hosted by the Regents each speaks about their relationship to Spinoza, the man and the thinker. For the next week, prior to the gala ceremony, the four prize recipients walk the streets of Amsterdam arguing heatedly, exposing their personal idiosyncrasies and sharing their fraught biographies. Spinoza is never far from their exchanges. In the course of the spirited discussions the characters' personal outlooks as well as their views of Spinoza merge dramatically into a tense but deeply humane tale.