Today, Edward Howard Griggs discusses Benedict de Spinoza, (also known as Baruch Spinoza) who was a Jewish-Dutch philosopher, considered to be one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. His beliefs led to his expulsion from the Jewish community, but his extremely naturalistic views on God, the world, the human being and knowledge serve to ground a moral philosophy centered on the control of the passions leading to virtue and happiness.