Descartes and Leibniz were both Roman Catholics; one cannot discount their motivation by fear of the Vatican and the Inquisition, and their opposition to Protestantism mainly Lutheranism and Calvinism, in order to espouse their support for the eternity of the soul, and even the Transubstantiation of the Eucharist.

Spinoza, on the other hand, was already excommunicated from Judaism, and suspected of being an atheist by Catholics and Protestants – a dangerous accusation in a dangerous time. Although Spinoza published anonymously, his notoriety was widespread; he never left the vicinity of Amsterdam – a kind of self-imposed witness protection program. But Spinoza was free to pursue his rationalism without religious encumbrances, and he did so fearlessly.

Spinoza, in his courage of conscience, is to me the far superior philosopher. Free to think, free of religion, he delved into many taboo subjects. Spinoza had no god, life had no purpose, man had no free will, nature was one substance infinite and eternal. Although Spinozist rational deductions can sometimes seem like simplistic or rhetorical tautologies, his full elucidations are extremely dense and challenging. His geometric method of deductions leads us to his inexorable conclusions; agree or disagree, Spinoza is difficult to pigeonhole as a mere rationalist, he knew no bounds. Spinozism is a multilayered matrix of epistemologies, and Spinoza was far ahead of his time.