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He is considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century [[philosophy]] and, by virtue of his magnum opus the [[Ethics]], one of the definitive [[ethic]]ists.
While at school he developed a lifelong passion for philosophy and in particular the work of Baruch Spinoza (1632-77), which was overridingly concerned with the idea of God's existence. Spinoza was Jewish but was excommunicated as a heretic as a result of his work, and Christians also denounced him as an atheist. At school Lacan hung a diagram of the 'atheist' Spinoza's posthumously published Ethics on his bedroom wall - a clearly subversive act in light of his middleclass Catholic upbringing and a move often interpreted as an early indication of his attitude towards institutions and authority.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza
