Published shortly after his death TheEthics is undoubtedly Spinoza's greatest work - an elegant fully cohesive cosmology derived from first principles providing a coherent picture of reality and a guide to the meaning of an ethical life. Following a logical step-by-step format it defines in turn the nature of God the mind the emotions human bondage to the emotions and the power of understanding - moving from a consideration of the eternal to speculate upon humanity's place in the natural order the nature of freedom and the path to attainable happiness.