Institute for Research in the Humanities

Mélanie Zappulla

Position title: Solmsen Fellow (2025–2026)

Address:
PhD, Philosophy, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Image of a woman with long curly hair and glasses in formal attire standing in front of pews.

Spinoza and the Wisdom of the Ancients: Ethics as a Way of Living

Like the ancient thinkers, for Spinoza, philosophy is not merely an academic discipline: it is a way of life. Does God exist? Was Nature designed to be useful to us? Is the soul immortal? Can anyone become wise? How should we live our lives, and why do we have ethical expectations regarding politics? Spinoza’s answers to these questions are radically modern and resonate with contemporary issues. In this book project, Spinoza and the Wisdom of the Ancients: Ethics as a Way of Living, I intend to demonstrate that Spinoza’s revolutionary philosophy drew on the wisdom of the ancient authors.

In this book, I will carry out a systematic study of Spinoza’s dialogue with ancient philosophers from various traditions, such as Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicurus and Lucretius. I will also explore the way in which Spinoza sometimes plays with opposing traditions while making his own original philosophical path. The book also analyzes Spinoza’s use of ancient literature and history with authors such as Homer, Cicero, Tacitus, Ovid and Seneca. Various aspects of Spinoza’s philosophy will be addressed, including metaphysical, epistemological, ethical and political questions. This study also aims to show how Spinoza’s philosophical evolution, from his early works to his mature works, can be partially explained by its relationship with ancient authors.

Mélanie Zappulla is a former student of the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Paris, and she has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her first book, L’imitation d’autrui et l’invention de soi. Le concept d’ingenium chez Spinoza was published on September 3rd 2025 by Classiques Garnier in the collection “Les Anciens et les Modernes”. She has notably published articles and reviews in the journals Les Etudes philosophiques and the Archives de philosophie. She also co-edited with I. Douzant and L. Rouquayrol Les progrès de la connaissance et la conduite de la vie (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles), published by the Éditions de la Sorbonne in 2024.