some thoughts about the philosopher spinoza


graphic drawing of Baruch Spinoza for the spinoza page at hiartx.com


Baruch Spinoza | (1632-1677) Dutch metaphysician, epistemologist, psychologist, moral philosopher, political theorist, and philosopher of religion who has a place in historical philosophy as one of the most important rationalists in modern philosophy.

He was born and educated in the Jewish community of Amsterdam, studied the writings of Descartes and others, and was excommunicated for his unorthodox views and practices. He then spent the rest of his life in Holland, and died on consumption at the age of 44. The only work published during his life was Principles of Descartes's Philosophy. Many of his works were published after his death, inclusing his Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect and others.

By the term ‘substance’ Spinoza means God or Nature (the ‘or’ not being disjunctive). A substance is in itself, and concieved through itself. In other words, a substance ‘is’. There is only one substance, God or Nature.

By the term ‘attribute’ Spinoza means that which the intellect perceives of substance as constituting its essence. There are infinite attributes, but humans can only perceive two- extension and thought. In other words, these are the two attributes we can perceive of when considering the essence of God or Nature.

He was a monist, believing that there could only be one substance or type of "stuff" in the universe. His philosophy utilized many of the terms that Descartes used, as he tried to maintain some coherence in the philosophical lingo of the time. Interestingly, Spinoza's view of Nature (and God) was deterministic, and he believed that we have no free will, and there is only one true cause- namely god, which was much like the initial, self-caused, or immanent cause. All other things were caused transitively, or through something else (Ex. I push on a door, it opens).

Spinoza's use of the terms Naturata naturans and Naturata naturata:
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Natura naturans is the term Spinoza uses to mean that which is in itself and is conceived through itself, or the attributes of substance that express eternal and infinite essence. By Natura naturata, he means that which follows from the necessity of each one of God’s attributes, or all the modes of God’s attributes, as long as they are considered things in God and con not be conceived without God.

In Part I of the Ethics, Spinoza states that the intellect in action must be related to Natura naturata and not Natura naturans because we do not understand absolute thought, but rather a definite mode of thinking. Otherwise, we would understand infinite thought. Because thought is different from other modes such as desire and love, it must be conceived through absolute thought, or an attribute of God that expresses the eternal and infinite essence of thought.

Without this attribute thought can never be or be conceived. Therefore, it refers to Natura naturata. This plays an important role in Part I of Spinoza’s Ethics because it demonstrates how the deterministic aspects of this philosophy, in that things must follow from the necessity of God’s nature, or from the necessity of each one of God’s attributes.

Spinoza's argument against God having any kind of Plan: Spinoza, in the Appendix to Part I, argues against the prejudices that still exist about the conclusions he has reached at that point in the Ethics. The central argument is against those who would ask, "If all things are derived from the perfect nature of God, then how is it that so many imperfections exist?".

Spinoza begins by stating that man has looked to nature and believed that everything was created for its exploitation, and from this all methods of worship followed. Then, he goes on to show how the idea that God had some plan in mind, some ultimate end, is a flaw in the perfect nature of God, because God must be seeking something that he does not yet have.

Also, Spinoza states that we wrongly attribute human imagination to God in relation to our ideas of good, bad, order, and confusion. As such, beautiful is attributed to those objects that give us feelings of well-being, and the opposite for that which ugly.

Spinoza’s overall goal is to show that there are not true imperfections in nature, but rather in the way we perceive nature in relation to us. Things are no less perfect because they please or displease humans. "Because the perfection of things should be measured solely from their own nature and power..."

Spinoza's Geometrical Manner:
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Ethics is said to be written "in a geometrical manner" because of its structure similar to that of geometrical proofs. Spinoza uses a purely logical form that adheres to a strict method of defining, providing self-evident axioms, and valid (testable through logical analysis) argumentation.

Spinoza probably chose this form because it creates a traceable, structured argument that ultimately rests upon basic axioms.

If someone were to challenge Spinoza’s reasoning, they would have to pinpoint the exact logical fallacy in his reasoning, rather than arguing in the somewhat rhetorical style of Locke or Descartes. In this way, Spinoza is creating a kind of scientific philosophy that strays away from rambling, and tries to do away with linguistic imperfections.

Spinoza's Proof of the Existence of God:
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In the second and third proofs of Proposition 11, Spinoza is attempting to prove the existence of God.

In the second proof, Spinoza states that there must be a cause for the existence or non-existence of everything.

He uses the example of a triangle to demonstrate that it must or must not exist, and that the reasons for its existence of non-existence must be either in the nature of the thing in question or something external to it.

 

graphic drawing of Baruch Spinoza for the spinoza page at hiartx.com

"Spinoza", 2010, graphic drawing
by Anthony Peter Iannini

Internal non-existence is demonstrated by the square circle, something that is a contradiction by nature. Existence is part of the nature of substance, and it therefore has no internal causes to existence (such as the square circle).

As for external causes for God’s non-existence there are none because for something to affect the existence of God that substance must be of another nature, and substances of differing natures can not affect each other.

In the third proof, Spinoza states that the ability to exist is power, and therefore God must exist because otherwise finite beings have more power than an infinite being. And this would mean that there is either nothing, or finite entities and an infinite entity existing at once. Because we exist, then too must God exist.

 

 


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