Freethinkers Day: Was Spinoza a Freethinker?

Today is Freethinkers Day inspired by the British freethinker, Thomas Paine, born in Thetford in 18th century England (1737?-1809). Although freethinkers tend to be humanists, that is, their morality is based on human needs e.g. compassion, empathy, other freethinkers, nevertheless, can believe in God or some higher being. The mark of a freethinker is that they believe in verifiable truth rather than truth based on revelation steming from religious belief/dogma. Paine was a Deist who believed in one God. Spinoza also believed in one God but that didn't make him a Deist because that would take him somewhere he doesn't want to go.  

Freethinkers place reason before faith. If they do follow a particular religion they reject superstition and allow their reason to inform their faith and their reading of Scripture, much as Spinoza did. This does not make Spinoza an outright freethinker because he remained a religious Jew (Orthodox Jew, since that was the only type that existed in the 17th century) and his Judaism comes through clearly in his writings, on my theory. 

However, nothing is only either/or with nothing in between. So there is an overlap between Jewish Spinoza and Freethinkers. For instance, just like them, he has a high regard for critical thinking, thinks outside the box, doesn't just accept perceived wisdom, and elevates reason to a level where it helps people understand their Jewish faith. But Spinoza wrote for everyone so the same would apply to all faiths, including Christianity. However, in his opinion,  religion is a private matter and therefore, there should not be a state religion because this could reduce religious tolerance. Freethinkers, following Paine, equally believe that religion and state should exist separately and argue against religious institutions, as did the 18th century Scotish philosopher, David Hume (1711-1776) who influenced Paine.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970, an aristocratic British analytic, agnostic philosopher, historian, public intellectual and political activist and a freethinker who was influenced by J.S. Mill's writings) emphasized not what beliefs you hold but how to hold those beliefs and what's the reasoning behind why you hold them. I think Spinoza would see eye to eye on this with Russell but that doesn't mean Spinoza suddenly becomes an atheist or an 'apostle' just because there is an overlap here with him. Unlike Russell, though, Spinoza was a scientist and, in this way, is also in line with freethinkers who promote knowledge grounded in scientific enquiry. This is why, maybe, Spinoza's Ethics is set out deductively in a geometric style. He isn't saying that Maths solves or explains everything he is just using this style, very common in the 17th century, to clarify his theory and thoughts. And I think it does just that. Although Spinoza wrote his TTP non-axiomatically, his Ethics was often besieged by intellectuals claiming they couldn't understand his philosophy. So he changed the original writing style in his Ethics and decided geometric method it is then. 

Thus, Spinoza is a Freethinker if we simpy take the kernel of the Merriam-Webster definition of a Freethinker as a non-dogmatic person "who thinks freely or independently: one who forms opinions on the basis of reason independently of authority". But he is not a Freethinker if we erroneously conflate this with being an atheist or agnostic or Deist. 

To my mind, both Margaret Cavendish and Mary Shepherd were also freethinkers. Both thought outside the box, held strong opinions at variance with received wisdom and were not afraid to voice them. I see both as strong-minded feminists who said what they thought. Although both were Christians, nevertheless, they kept their religion and philosophy separate which is a position I uphold. Indeed, Shepherd expressly states that this is her intention. In many ways, I think, they are very similar to Spinoza. Hence, I am attracted to their philosophy because they are all types of Freethinkers.