In 2010, the world of philosophical research trembled: the copy of the original of Ethics, the only Latin version written during Spinoza's lifetime, was discovered by a team of Italian researchers. For more than three centuries this manuscript, of inestimable value, has been buried in the Vatican archives, without anyone knowing.
The mystery is all the more palpable because during the lifetime of its author, it circulated under wraps. Spinoza, author of the theological-political treatise, is then considered heretical for having undermined the foundations of political and religious authorities. He was censored and excluded from the Jewish community in Amsterdam.
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This double destiny of the manuscript constitutes the framework of Mériam Korichi’s story. We follow the journey through learned Europe of the 17th century, from Amsterdam to London, via Paris and Rome. The author places us at the heart of the emergence of great philosophical ideas, meeting the great thinkers of this time, such as Leibniz, Huygens, Newton, etc. A dizzying journey for one of the major works of Western philosophy.
Marianne : Your book opens with the discovery of the manuscript of the'Ethics of Spinoza in the Vatican. How did he end up there?
Mériam Korichi : It emerged in 2010, to almost everyone's surprise. Once discovered, we were able to reconstruct the route he followed. There are obviously gray areas, and that's where my investigation began. Pina Totaro, a researcher at Sapienza in Rome, was aware of a deposit of this manuscript, when the archives of the inquisition at the Vatican were opened in 1998.
