Extensio, Materia and Corpus in Spinoza’s Philosophy

The interest that Spinoza has recently aroused in areas other than philosophy, such as those of medicine and neuroscience, is well known. In this article The author tries to outline Spinoza’s conception of matter, as it emerges from some of the most significant passages of his Ethica and his letters. Spinoza’s doctrine was so ‘revolutionary’ that this led over the centuries to its being identified as one of the highest form of materialism. Are we allowed to define Spinoza as a materialist philosopher? Are there significant textual elements that confirm this position and what is the meaning of Spinoza's alleged materialism within his metaphysical doctrine?