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Although Spinoza's formative influence on the cultural ideals of the West is widely recognized, especially with reference to liberal democracy, secular humanism, and naturalistic ethics, little has been written about the educational implications of his philosophy. This article explores the pedagogical tenets that are implicit in Spinoza's writings. I argue (1) that Spinoza's ethics is eudaimonistic , aiming at self-affirmation, full humanity and wellbeing; (2) that the flourishing of individuals depends on their personal resources, namely, their conatus , power, vitality or capacity to act from their own inner natures; and (3) that the combination of the Spinozian conceptions of humanism, liberal democracy, eudaimonistic ethics, and the enlightened and sovereign individual constitute together the grounds for a comprehensive empowering and liberating pedagogy.By conventional disciplinary standards, Spinoza is rightfully not considered an educator: he was not a teacher by profession, as a philosopher he never wrote a treatise on education, and one can hardly find references to his writings in academic courses on the history and philosophy of education. Nevertheless, by 'softer' standards or a looser usage of language, Spinoza is often regarded as one of the greatest educators of mankind. Very much like Moses and Buddha, Confucius and he belongs to a small and exclusive group of prophets, philosophers and scientists that have created and shaped the major cultural categories by means of which people perceive reality and give meaning and value to their experiences. 1 Spinoza's reluctance-conscious or unconscious-to deal with educational topics in his writings is perplexing. Because it has been customary in the history of philosophy for discussions of educational matters to develop from and follow discussions of metaphysical, epistemological and ethical issues, it strikes us as quite odd that Spinoza's ethical discourse does not extend its focus to matters of educational

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