Circulated - 1673
Posthumously Published
- 1677.
Introduction—Purpose
- Spinozistic Ideas
- Mark Twain & Spinoza
The Ethics:
Part I - Part II - Part
III - Part IV - Part
V
MiniCD of Entire Site
- Spinozistic Glossary and Index
Durant's
Tribute - Graetz's Censure
- Philosophy/Religion
- Link and Endnote Search
Browser Notes—Use
800 x 600 resolution and medium
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1. The text
is the 1883 translation of the "The
Ethics" by R. H. M.
Elwes,
as printed by Dover Publications in Book
I. See note above.
For other Versions see Note
7.
2. JBY added sentence numbers.
(y:xx): y = Proposition
Number, if given; xx = Sentence Number.
3. Page numbers are those of Book
I .
4. Symbols:
( Spinoza's footnote or the Latin word ),
[ Curley's Book VIII
translation variance or footnote ],
] Shirley's Book VII
translation variance or footnote [,
< Parkinson's Book
XV translation variance or endnote >,
> De Dijn's Book
III translation variation or comment <,
{ JBY Comment } Metaphors,
Links,
G-D {Spelling
change not consistent; too many of them.}
All
comments in right-hand margin are by JBY unless noted.
5. For Bibliography, Citation abbreviations, and Book ordering see here.
6. Please e-mail
errors, clarification requests, disagreement, or
suggestions to josephb@yesselman.com.
7. Text
version of the Ethics; Latin
versions.
This HTML version was abridged
and formatted for conversion
to an eBook.
The abridged version is available
to be read on various eBook Readers
8. Suggestion: Do not read
this Spinoza electronic HTML linearly as
you would a novel,
but rather follow a thread by following all its
EL:[3]:vi
links
in turn. You will then be putting hypertexting
to its fullest and
Schorsch
best advantage—the fuller discussion
of a thread. If
you do not stick
Durant's
Story
to
one thread at a time,
this Web Site will be very convoluted,
Tickle
the Fancy
confusing,and
an annoying maze.
If you prefer to read linearly,
read these plain vanilla text
versions,
abridged
versions, e-book versions,or best,
study the printed
book—
book page numbers are given
for most scanned books.
9. From Elwes's Introduction—EL:[3]:vi,
EL:[5]:vii, EL:[7]:viii,
EL:[33]:xxi.
10. The secret to understanding Spinoza E1:Bk.III:200
In "The
Ethics - Part 1; Concerning G-D",
Spinoza spells out the
E5:Note 10
hypothesis that all
things, animate, inanimate, and even the concept
of G-D,
are bound into one grand "Organic Interdependence
of Parts".
From this hypothesis
it logically follows that obedience
to the Golden
Spinozistic
Idea
Rule
is an act of self-interest and
not altruism. Remember this and all
his
puzzling sayings, for example E1:Def.III
& VI:45, E1:I:46,
and
E1:XIV:54,become
more, if not completely, understandable.
See Posit:
1D6 = ONE;
and look for the Cash
Value.
Important.
Burden of E1
11. To help further understand
many of the Propositions and Ideas,
{ Examples
use the analogy
of you as
'G-D'
(substance)
1D6, 2P3,
2P4 }
I
WAS
I AM
I WILL BE
Exo.
3:14
( antecedents, present, and descendents ),
^ Being
brain, heart,
lungs, fingernails, shoes, etc. Analogies,
Organic
and all parts of you as
modes ( particular
things ).
2P20
Example—you
are a part of G-D
as your heart is a part of you.
Indivisible
You should
serve G-D as you would
want your heart to serve you.
E2:Endnote
N.11, E5:Endnote
18:1N, Pantheism, Fetus,
Skin,
Bk.XIV:2:243—Man
needs.
There is an apparent contradiction in the Note 11 analogy: G-D has no Emotions (5P17); no love; no hate—but you certainly love/hate your heart. When your heart gives-out your conciousness is finished; but in G-D nothing is lost or gained: think conservation of matter (your chemicals return to the earth) and conservation of energy (your energy fertilizes the earth or is energy for the worms). The contradiction is thus resolved. Analogies,
Also
interchange G-D and Nature.
G-D
siveNatura
(For this last, thanks
to "Frank Dixon" <fdixon65@yahoo.com>)
12. See Wolfson's
Outline of "The Ethics" compiled by Terry
Neff.
For Table of
Contents of Wolfson's epic commentary see Bk.XIV:xii.
For Wolfson's "What
is New in Spinoza?" see E5:Bk.XIV:xxvi.
Spinoza's
Daring
For a "study of the
plan of Ethics 1" see Deleuze's Bk.XIX:337-8.
Dijn:238—On
Salvation
For a critical criticism of "The Ethics"
see Bennett's Bk.XVIII.
13. See Nadler's entry
in "Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy".
Definitions:45
Axioms:46
Part I Propositions:Book
I:Pg. vii.
If you know the Proposition you want, click
its Roman numeral.
If you want to scroll the list of Propositions click here.
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI | XVII | XVIII | XIX | XX |
XXI | XXII | XXIII | XXIV | XXV | XXVI | XXVII | XXVIII | XXIX | XXX |
XXXI | XXXII | XXXIII | XXXIV | XXXV | XXXVI |
Appendix:74.
Part I Proposition List: Book
I:Pg. v; {
Hypotheses
}
Suggestion:
Do not read consecutively as you would a novel;
but select a Proposition, click its number to the left
and then follow all its
links in turn wherever they
may lead. You will then be putting hypertexting to
its fullest and best advantage—a fuller discussion
of a thread. If
you do not stick to one thread at a
time, this Web Site will seem very convoluted and
confusing.
If you prefer to read linearly,
read these plain vanilla
text
versions, abridged versions,
e-book versions,
or
best, study the printed book—book page
numbers are
given for most scanned books.
{Definition
of Proposition: a statement in which something is affirmed or denied,
so that it can therefore be significantly characterized as either true
or false.}
{All
axioms, definitions, and propositions
are hypotheses. Test
them
for their 'cash value'. See Notes
10 & 11, Posit:
1D6 = ONE,
and Ideas.}
Stipulations
Premises 1 to 5 and Conclusion are from Wikipedia.
Prop. I. E1:Bk.XIV:1:158 |
Substance {G-D}
is by Nature prior to its modifications.
{EL:Bk.XIII:626, Deus sive Natura, Bk.XX:228.} Premise 1. Substance
exists and cannot be dependent on anything |
Prop. II. II - VI Bk.XIV:1:79, 81 |
Two substances, whose attributes
are different, have nothing in common. Premise 2. No two substances can share an attribute. Proof: If they share an attribute,
they would be identical. Therefore |
Prop. III. | Things which have nothing
in common cannot be one the cause of the other. Premise 3. A substance can only be caused by something similar to itself (something that shares its attribute). |
Prop. IV. | Two or more distinct things are distinguished one from
the other, either by the difference of the attributes of the substances, or by the difference of their modifica- tions. Implied is Premise 4. Substance
cannot be caused. |
Prop. V. | There cannot exist in the universe two or more
substances having the same nature or attribute. Implied is Premise 5. Substance is infinite. Proof: If substance were not
infinite, it would be finite and |
Prop. VI. | One substance cannot
be produced by another substance. IImplied is the Conclusion: There can only be one substance. Proof: If there were two infinite substances, they would limit each other. But this would act as a restraint, and they would be dependent on each other. But they cannot be dependent on each other (premise 1), therefore there cannot be two substances. |
Prop. VII.
VII - X Bk.XIV:1:113 E1:Bk.XIV:1:158 |
Existence belongs
to the Nature of substance.
|
Prop. VIII
VIII - XI Bk.XIV:1:139. |
Every substance is necessarily infinite. |
Prop. IX. | The more reality or
being a thing has the greater the
number of its attributes. |
Prop. X. | Each particular
attribute of the
one substance must be conceived through itself. |
Prop. XI. | G-D, or substance,
consisting of infinite attributes, of which each expresses eternal and infinite essentiality, necessarily exists. |
Prop. XII.
XII - XIII Bk.XIV:1:113. |
No attribute of substance can be conceived from which
it would follow that substance can be divided. |
Prop. XIII. | Substance absolutely infinite is indivisible. |
Prop. XIV. Bk.XIV:1:214. |
Besides G-D no substance
can be granted or conceived. |
Prop. XV.
XV - XVIII Bk.XIV:1:296. |
Whatsoever is, is in G-D,
and without G-D nothing can be, or be conceived. |
Prop. XVI. | From the necessity of the divine nature
must follow an infinite number of things in infinite ways—that is, all things which can fall within the sphere of infinite intellect. |
Prop. XVII. | G-D acts solely by the
laws of his own Nature, and is
not constrained by any one. |
Prop. XVIII. | G-D is the indwelling
and not the transient cause of all
things. |
Prop. XIX.
XIX - XXIX Bk.XIV:1:370. |
G-D, and all the attributes of G-D, are eternal. |
Prop. XX. | The existence of
G-D and his essence
are one and the same. |
Prop. XXI. | All things which follow from the absolute Nature
of any attribute of G-D must always exist and be infinite, or, in other words, are eternal and infinite through the said attribute. |
Prop. XXII. | Whatsoever follows from any attribute
of G-D, in so far as it is modified by a modification, which exists necessarily and as infinite, through the said attribute, must also exist necessarily, and as infinite. |
Prop. XXIII. | Every mode, which exists both necessarily
and as infi- nite, must necessarily follow either from the absolute Nature of some attribute of G-D, or from an attribute modified by a modification which exists necessarily, and as infinite. |
Prop. XXIV. | The essence of things
produced by G-D does not involve existence. |
Prop. XXV. | G-D is the efficient
cause not only of the existence of things, but also of their essence. |
Prop. XXVI. | A thing which is conditioned
to act in a particular manner, has necessarily been thus conditioned by G-D; and that which has not been conditioned by G-D cannot condition itself to act. |
Prop. XXVII. | A thing, which has been conditioned by G-D to act in
a particular way, cannot render itself unconditioned. |
Prop. XXVIII. | Every individual thing,
or everything which is finite and
has a conditioned existence, cannot exist or be condi- tioned to act, unless it be conditioned for existence and action by a cause other than itself, which also is finite, and has a conditioned existence; and likewise this cause cannot in its turn exist, or be conditioned to act, unless it be conditioned for existence and action by another cause, which also is finite, and has a con- ditioned existence, and so on to infinity. |
Prop. XXIX. | Nothing in the universe is contingent,
but all things are conditioned to exist and operate in a particular manner by the necessity of the Divine Nature. |
Prop. XXX.
XXX - XXXVI Bk.XIV:1:400. |
Intellect, in function (actu) finite, or in function
infinite, must comprehend the attributes of G-D and the modifications of G-D, and nothing else. |
Prop. XXXI. | The intellect in function,
whether finite or infinite, as will, desire, love, etc., should be referred to passive nature and not to active Nature. |
Prop. XXXII. | Will cannot be called
a free cause, but
only a necessary cause. |
Prop XXXIII. | Things could not have
been brought into being by G-D in any manner or in any order different from that which has in fact obtained. |
Prop. XXXIV. | G-D's power is identical with his essence. Metaphors |
Prop. XXXV. | Whatsoever we conceive to be in the power of G-D,
necessarily exists. |
Prop. XXXVI. | There is no cause from
whose nature some effect does not follow. |
< E1:Bk.XV:2601—E3:Def.XX:178,
TEI:[95-98]:35
> For symbols see E1:Note 4
DEFINITIONS
{ G:Notes
1 & 2,
Hypothesis.
}
Bk.III:197; Bk.XIV:1:1273, 1:1281—TEI:[92]:34; Neff—EL:L02(02):276.
<causa sui,
E1:Bk.XV:2602—E1:XI:51,
E1:XVI:59
>
Being
Def. I. By that
which is self-caused,
I mean that of which the
Spinoza's
Religion
essence involves existence,
or that of which the Nature
G-D
siveNatura
is only conceivable as existing.
1P7, 1P24;
5P35.
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
{G:Bk.VII:2821,G-D,
Deus, Immanent,
Exodus 3:14
" I AM THAT
I AM";
Analogy
Strong:1961, 1933, 1934. J---vah;
Strong:3068, 3069, Bk.XIV:1:144-5.
}
Bk.XVIII:76d2,
87d2,
88p21,22;
Bk.XIX:13a.
Bk.XIB:237108;
Bk.XIV:1:133.
Bk.III:198—TEI:[101]:37
Bk.III:199.
Def. II. A thing is
called finite after its kind,
when it can be limited
by another thing of the same nature; for instance, a body is
G-d
sivenatura
called finite because we always
conceive another greater
body. So, also, a thought is limited by another
thought, but
a body is not limited by thought,
nor a thought by body.
Bk.XIV:1:136.
Neff—EL:L04[3](04):282,
Bk.XIII:6713—E2:I
& II:82.
1P8,
21.
G:Bk.VII:223;
Bk.XIII:623;
Bk.XIV:1:64; Bk.XV:2613;
Bk.XVIII:601d3,
64d3,
67d3.
Durant:636—reality,
essence
Bk.III:197.
Def. III. By
substance, I mean
that which is
in itself, and is
term 'G-D'
conceived through itself;
in other words, that of which a
conception can be formed independently of
any other Hampshire32:22,
Joseph Kupfer
conception.
1P1, 2, 4,
5, 6c, 10, 15,
28.
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
EL:[42];xxiii, Neff—EL:L02[4](02):277,
Neff—E5:L29(12):318.
Bk.VIII:4082—Bk.XIV:1:121;
Bk.XIII:623.
Bk.XIV:1:142,146,1521,1532,
2322,
236, 2554,
2575,
3883,
404; Bk.XV:2614—E2:XLIV:116;
Bk.XVIII:611d4,
1461d4—Bk.XIV:1:121.
Def. IV. By attribute,
I mean that which the intellect perceives
as {if}
Wolfson:1:1432—Talmud.
constituting the essence of substance.
1P4, 9,
10, 12, 19, 20;
2P1note.
Durant:63672
G:Shirleys:234,
Neff—EL:L02[3](02):277.
^ Bk.III:158,196—Neff—TL:L27(09):315.
Bk.III:200;
Bk.XIV:1:64, 2504,
2554;
Bk.XVIII:61d5,
67d5,
92d5,
1481d5.
<Bk.XV:2615—E1:XXV(7)C:66,
E2:D.1:82, E2:V(1):85
>
{ Calculus:Fig.
3 }
] affections[
( accidents
)
Def. V. By mode,
I mean the modifications
("Affectiones")
of
{ Spinoza's
motive;
substance, or that which exists in, and is conceived
All things
are in G-D. }
through, something other than itself. { G:Shirley:236}
Durant:638
- modes
{ E1:Note 11, Neff—E5:L29(12):318
} 1P1,
4, 6c, 15, 23,
25c, 28, 31;
2P1.
Def. VI References: Bk.XIII:6817—Bk.XIII:612—EL:L04[4]G-D(04):283;
SCR:Dijn's Salvation.
E1:Bk.III:18938,
198, 199, 200; Bk.XIB:23296,
235, 237108;
Bk.XIV:1:1182,
133, 158,Bk.XIV:2:3431;
Bk.XVIII:251d6—1p14d,
64d6,
75d6,
14713;
Bk.XIX:13;Bk.XX:228.
{It
will be a happy day when all books
and footnotes are available electronically
and permanently.}
<Bk.XV:2616—Bk.XV:27167
on E2:VII(8):87>,
{See
Note 13},
{Quantum Mechanics}. E1:Dijn:195.
Simply
Posit. {Compare
ONE —
Spinoza's and Jewish
identical Foundation Rock is to Know
G-D, Durant:169.}
Def. VI. By G-D,
I mean { Being
} absolutely infinite—that
is,
{by
religious hypothesis,
substance consisting in infinite
attributes, of which each
MOTIVE,
expresses
eternal and infinite essentiality
{and
an infinite number
Spinoza's
Daring}
of
finite modes. Included in these modes
are you, me, and every other
Logical necessity
particular
thing}.
G-D
sive Natura
and G-d sive natura.
}
ST:Note
4
{G-D at 100% °P^}
Robinson5:40
{^ G-d
at <100% °P,
Disclaimer}
Stewart06:[5]
G:Bk.VII:236—Spinoza's
Pantheism ^
New
Wine
in Old Bottles—E1:Wolfson:1:158,
E1:Wolfson:1:216,
E1:Albert Schweizer:79, Root
Sources.
1P10S, 11, 14,
14C1, 16, 19,
31; 2P1, 1S,
45; 4P28;
5P35.
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
{ Deus,
Posit, EL:[40]:xxiii,
TEI:[39]:14, TEI:[40]:15,
E1:X(4)n:51, Neff—EL:L02[3](02):276
Neff—TEI:L64(60):395,
Cash
Value—an
all-inclusive organic
interdependence.
Importance
of 1D6 = ONE
C:Fig.3, G:Spinoza's
Pantheism, Spinoza's
Religion, Man's
place in Nature, Quantum Mechanics.}
Def.
VI paraphrased using the analogy suggested
in Note 11:
Other Examples—2P3,
2P4
By YOU
I mean a being absolutely
infinite—that is, a
substance consisting in infinite attributes, of which
each
Spinozism
expresses eternal and infinite essentiality {an
infinite
{Cash
Value—organic
number of finite modes. Included in these
modes are your heart,
interdependence of parts}
lungs, fingernails, shoes, etc., etc., etc.}.
Bk.XIV:1:215,
3771.
< in > Bk.III:157.
Explanation.— I say absolutely
infinite, not infinite
after its kind:
for, of
a thing infinite
only after its kind, infinite attributes may be
denied; but that
which is absolutely
infinite, page
46 contains
in
its essence
whatever expresses reality, and involves
no negation.
Bk.XIV:1:136,137.
{Being}
{of its Being}
Bk.XIV:1:xvi2,
2552,
3851,
3994,
400, 4071,
2:1731;
Bk.XVIII:181d7,
3151d7.
Popkin:71
< E1:Bk.XV:2627,
E1:XVII(7)N:60.
>; Bk.III:206,
229.
Spinoza's
Religion
Def. VII. That thing
is called free, which exists
solely by the neces-
G-D
sity of its own nature,
and of which the action
is deter-
Wolf:ST:29-16
mined by itself alone. On
the other hand, that thing is
Hampshire:182
]inevitable
[,
compelled—Bk.XIV:1:3091
Mark
Twain
necessary
, or rather
constrained, which is determined
by
E5:Wolfson:2:268
something external to itself
to a fixed and definite method
Mark
Twain
of existence or action.
1P17C2, 32,
33S2; 2P17S; 3P49.
LT:L3421:336
] Bk.XIII:276276—Neff-TL:L60(56):389.
[
{ Taylor/Wheeler92:iii
}
] Bk.VII:16—'free'
is not opposed to 'necessary' but to 'compelled' [
Fatalism—Ridley:307
{
Since nothing is external to G-D,
by hypothesis, He
is at 100% °P,
always "free."
}
{E3:XLIX:161,
EL:[41];xxiii, Neff—TL:L62(58):389,
Free-will,
Volition. }
Bk.XIB:226; Bk.XIV:1:xvii3,
331-369,
358, 3685,
3692;
Bk.XVIII:111d8,
2041d8.
< E1:Parkinson:2628,
E1:XIX(5)N:63,
E1:XXXIII(21)N2:72, E2:XLIV(11)C2:117.
>
Def. VIII. By eternity,
I mean exist-ing
itself, in so far as it is
conceived necessarily to
follow solely <merely>
from the
Calc:Note 4.7
definition
of that which is eternal.
P19, 20, 23;
5P29, 30.
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
{G-D, EL:[41];xxiii, EL:[60]:xxix; Neff—E5:L29(12)[5]:319.}
Explanation.—Existence of this kind is
conceived as an
[ Bk.VIII:4095—E1:VIII(14)N2:49,
E1:XIX:62. ]
eternal truth, like the
essence
of a thing,
and, therefore,
[ expressed
]
duration—Bk.XIV:1:3583.
cannot be explained by means
of continuance or time,
Calculus:4.7
Bk.XIV:1:3662.
though continuance may
be conceived without a beginning or
Hampshire32:172
end. {E5:Einstein
Time, Hawking
Time; Neff—E5:L29(12)[3]:318};
Bk.XIB:224.
Ax. I. Everything
which exists, exists either in itself or in something
else.
1P4, 6C,
11, 14C2, 15,
28.
<------- small
print, Logical
Index.
Bk.III:152,196;
Bk.XII:160; Bk.XVIII:181a1.
Ax. II. That which cannot be
conceived through anything else must
Bk.XIV:1:76.
be conceived through itself.
I am
that I am
{event}
]inevitably
[
Ax. III. From a given definite cause
an effect necessarily follows;
Chain
of natural events
and, on the other hand, if no definite cause be granted, it is
Wolfson:1:90
impossible that an effect can follow.
1P27; 4P31;
5P33.
Bk.III:196; Bk.XVIII:321a3,
112a3.
Ax. IV. The knowledge
of an effect depends on and involves the
knowledge {understanding}
of a cause.
1P3, 6C,
25; 2P5, 6,
7, 16, 45;
5P22.
Bk.III:188;
Bk.XII:160; Bk.XV:26210;
Bk.XVIII:1271a4,
1791a4;
Bk.XIX:13313.
Transcendent
Ax. V. Things
which have nothing in common cannot be understood,
Wolfson:1:90—Transcendent
the one by means of the other; the conception
of one does not
Transcendent
involve the conception of the other. 1P3.
Bk.XVIII:1271a5—1p3d,
1481a5.
Bk.III:80—TEI:L64(60):395;
188; Bk.XIV:2:996;
Bk.XVIII:1671a6,
1701a6.
] G:Bk.VII:2513—ideate,
E2:XLVIII(9)
& XLIX:120, E1:XXX:(1):69.[
E1:Parkinson:26311—True
Idea
Ax. VI. A true
idea must correspond with its ideate
or object.
1P5, 30;
2P29, 32,
44, 44C2.
<-------------- small
print, Logical
Index.
{ L65(63):396,
Neff—LT:L66(64):398,
E2:Def.IV:82. }
Ax. VII. If a thing can be conceived as non-existing,
its essence
does not involve existence.
1P11.
Bk.XVIII:74a7.
{Axiom VIII—simply posit}
1D6=
ONE—Deus—William
James; Importance of 1D6 = ONE
{In order to avoid useless speculation,
simply posit Spinoza's
G-D as a working hypothesis
and then prove or disprove it by
testing for its cash value. Col:Hampshire}
Hypothesis—1. a provisional theory set forth to explain some class of phenomena (say, like gravity), either accepted as a guide to future investigation (working hypothesis) or assumed for the sake of argument and testing for its cash value (which is, that all things are in G-D; therefore everything is organically interdependent and you cannot harm one part without eventually harming yourself or your progeny.) 2. a tentative assumption made in orderto draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences.
This working hypothesis helps to
understand our universe, society, and
ourselves and thus brings moments of peace-of-mind—the goal of all Religions
and righteous governments.}
PART I PROPOSITIONS {
Hypotheses
} ] G:Bk.VII:2513
[
Bk.XX:228. For all Propositions see Scroll P1.
PROP. I. EL:Bk.XIII:626;Bk.XIV:1:78; Bk.XVIII:67p1, 1471p1—2p7s; Bk.XX:228. See Premise 1
E1:Bk.XIV:1:158
Bk.XIV:1:3751.
Substance {
G-D
} is by Nature
prior
Deus
sive Natura
to its modifications.
{Neff,
EL:L04(04)[4]:283.}
1P5
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
[ affections ]
For symbols see Note 4.
Bk.XIV:1:3792.
{ Paraphrased using the analogy suggested in Note 11. } Other Examples—1D6, 2P3, 2P4
{ YOU
are by nature prior to your emotional changes. } James'
Bear
Proof.— (1:1)
This is clear from Defs. iii.
and v {iv and vi}.
Motive
PROP. II. Bk.III:196;
Bk.XIV:1:79, 85, 96; Bk.XVIII:691p2,
104p2,4,5,6,
1481p2.
See
Premise 2
Two substances,
whose attributes are
Bk.XIV:1:81.
different, have nothing in common.
] Bk.XIII:6816
on EL:L04[4](04):283.[
1P6,
11, 12.
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
page 47
Proof.— (2:1)
Also evident from Def. iii.
(2:2) For
each must exist in itself,
and be conceived
through itself; in other words, the
conception of
]involve[ For
symbols See Note
4.
one does not imply the conception of
the other.
PROP. III. Bk.III:196;
Bk.XIV:1:86, 94, 95; Bk.XVIII:501p3,
1271p3d,
1481p2,3;
Bk.XIX:4811—E1:17s.
See
Premise 3
Things which have
nothing in common
Satan,
slums
cannot be one the cause
of the other.
Wolfson:1:90—Transcendent
]Bk.XIII:6816
on EL:L04[4](04):283.[
Bk.XIB:237109.
1P6
Proof.— (3:1)
If they have nothing in common, it follows
that one can-
< understood >
not be apprehended by means of the other (Ax.
v.), and, therefore,
one cannot be the cause of the other
(Ax. iv.). Q.E.D.
PROP. IV. Bk.XIV:1:91,
92; Bk.XVIII:64p4d,
66p4,
104p2,4,5,6.
Two or more distinct
things are
See
Premise 4
distinguished one from
the other,
either by the
difference of the
attributes
of the substances,
or by
the difference of their modifications.
Bk.XIV:2:1943.
1P5
Bk.XIV:1:86—Affections
Proof.— (4:1)
Everything
which exists, exists either in itself
or in
] nothing
exists
something else (Ax. i.),—that
is (by Defs. iii. and v.), nothing
is grant-
external to the intellect,
[
ed in addition to the understanding,
except substance and its modi-
< Bk.XV:26312—E1:XIV:54
> [
outside the intellect
]
fications. (4:2)
Nothing is, therefore, given
besides the understanding,
by which several things may be distinguished one from the
other, except the substances,
or, in other words ] Def.
iv. [,
their
] affections[
attributes
and modifications.
Q.E.D.
Bk.XIV:1:4041.
PROP. V. Bk.III:195,197;
Bk.XIII:625
on EL:L02[4]; Bk.XIV:1:139.
Bk.XVIII:61p5d,
661p5,
82p5,7,8,
88p5,
104p2,4,5,6,
1481p5,
17014;
Bk.XIX:282,
3415; Bk.XX:228.
There cannot exist in the universe
See
Conclusion
two or more substances
having the
See Note
10
same nature or attribute.
1P8, 12, 13,
14, 15s; 2P10s,
13L1.
Bk.XIV:1:86.
< Bk.XV:26313—E1:XXV(7)C:66
>
{Cash
Value—an all-inclusive
organic interdependence.
Analogy—you
are unique.}
{Neff—EL:L02(02)[4]:276}
Proof.— (5:1)
If several distinct substances be granted, they
must be
Bk.XIV:1:93
distinguished
one from the other, either by the difference
of their
attributes, or by
the difference of their modifications
(Prop. iv.).
[conceded ]
(5:2) If
only by the difference of their attributes, it will be granted that
there cannot be more than one with an identical attribute. (5:3) If by
the difference of their modifications—as substance is naturally prior
to its modifications (Prop. i.),—it follows that setting the modifica-
tions aside, and considering substance in itself, that is truly, (Defs. iii.
and Ax.vi.), there cannot be conceived one substance different from
another—that is (by Prop. iv.), there cannot be granted several
substances, but one substance only.
Q.E.D.
PROP. VI. Bk.III:196;
Bk.VIII:93[7]; Bk.XIII:612
on EL:L02[3](02),625
on EL:L02[4].
Bk.XIV:1:94, 95;
Bk.XVIII:104p2,4,5,6.
Proof.— (6:1) It is impossible that there should be in the universe two
substances with an identical attribute, i. e. which have anything
common to them both (Prop. ii.), and, therefore page 48 (Prop. iii.),
one cannot be the cause of another, neither can one be produced
by the other. Q.E.D.
Corollary.— (6:2)
Hence it follows that a
substance cannot be pro-
Bk.XIV:1:95.
< Bk.XV:26314—E1:XV(11)N:55,
E1:VIII(10)N2:49 >
duced by anything
external to itself. (6:3)
For in the universe nothing
]
exists [
{ ^ A
transcendent God
}
is granted, save
substances and their modifications
(as appears
from Ax. i. and Defs. iii. and v.). (6:4) Now (by the last Prop.) substance
cannot be produced by another substance, therefore it cannot be
produced by anything external itself. Q.E.D. 1P7, 15s.
Bk.XVIII:181p6c,
601p6c,
1281.
<
Another Proof >
(6:5)
[
Alternatively: ]
This is shown still more readily by
the absurdity
of the contradictory. (6:6) For, if substance be produced by an external
cause, the knowledge of it would depend on the knowledge of its
cause (Ax. iv.), and (by Def.
iii.) it would itself not be substance.
PROP. VII. Bk.XIV:1:116,1263,130,139;
Bk.XVIII:707,11,
82p5,7,8;
Bk.XIX:3415.
Proof.— (7:1) Substance cannot be produced by anything external
(Corollary, Prop.
vi.), it must, therefore, be its own cause—that
is,
< Bk.XV:26317
—ontological
argument, E1:XI:51
>
] Def.
I [,
its essence necessarily
involves existence, or existence
Durant:63671
belongs to its nature. Bk.XVIII:171p7d,
251p7d;
Bk.XIX:13313.
PROP. VIII. Bk.XIV:1:118,120,133,139;
Bk.XVIII:69p8d,
82p5,7,8,
88p8;
Bk.XIX:3415.
Every substance
is
E1:Wolfson:1:158
necessarily infinite.
1P12, 13S,
15S; 2P13L1.
{Famous
letter on the Infinite}
{ EL:L15(32):2922,
Neff—E5:L29[11](12):322.}
Bk.XIII:625
on EL:L02[4](02).
< Bk.XV:26315—E1:XI:51,
E1:XIII(4)C:54
E1:XV(32)N:57,
E2:Lemma1:93.
>
< a substance of one attribute
>
Proof.— (8:1)
There can be only
one substance with an identical
] Prop.
v. Bk.VIII:41212—E1:X(2)N:51
[
attribute,
and existence follows from its nature (Prop. vii.);
its nature,
] can [
therefore, involves existence,
either as finite or infinite. (8:2) It
does
not exist as finite, for (by Def. ii.) it would then be limited by some-
thing else of the same kind, which would also necessarily exist
(Prop. vii.);
and there would be two substances with an identical
] must exist [
attribute, which is absurd (Prop.
v.). (8:3) It
therefore exists as infinite.
{ Neff—E5:L29[4](12):318.}
Q.E.D.
Bk.XVIII:76p8s1—d6expl.
Note I.— (8:4)
As finite existence involves a partial negation, and
infin-
ite existence is the absolute affirmation of the given nature, it follows
(solely from Prop.
vii.) that every substance is necessarily infinite.
Durant:63671
Note II.—(8:5)
No doubt it will be difficult
for those who think about
things loosely, and have not been accustomed to know them by their
primary causes, to comprehend the demonstrations of Prop. vii.: for
such persons make no distinction between the modifications of
substances and the substances
themselves, and are ignorant of the
Bk.XIX:1611.
manner in which things
are produced; hence they attribute
to
] a
[
substances the
beginning which they observe in natural objects.
[ confuse everything ]
(8:6) Those
who are ignorant of true
causes, make complete page
49
[ Bk.VIII:41316—TEI:[58:4]:22]
confusion—think that trees might
talk just as well as men—that men
might be formed from stones as well as from seed; and imagine that
any form might be changed into any other.
(8:7) So,
also, those who
Bk.XVIII:1811p8s2.
{ whole
and a part. }
confuse the two natures,
divine and human, readily attribute human
] emotions[
] G-D[
passions to the deity,
especially so long as they do not know how
Durant:63979
passions originate in the mind. (8:8) But, if people would consider the
Nature of substance, they would have no doubt about the truth of Bk.XIV:1:116.
Prop. vii. (8:9)
In fact, this proposition would
be a universal axiom,
1P15S.
and accounted a truism.
(8:10) For,
by substance, would be
under-
Bk.XVIII:73p8s2—p11d2.
stood that which is in itself, and is conceived
through itself—that is,
something of which
the conception requires not the conception of
< E1:VI(2)C:48
>
Bk.III:153
anything else; whereas
modifications exist in something external to
themselves, and a conception of them is formed
by means of a con-
{ substance }
ception of the thing
in which they exist. (8:11)
Therefore, we may have
true
idea of non-existent modifications;
for, although they may have
]
Bk.XIII:6918
on EL:L04[4](04):284.[
no actual existence
apart from the conceiving intellect, yet
their
essence
is so involved in something external
to themselves that they
may through it be conceived. (8:12)
Whereas the only truth substances
can have, external to the intellect, must consist in their existence,
because they are conceived
through themselves. (8:13)
Therefore,
Hypothesis
for a person to say that he has
a clear and
distinct—that
is, a true—
idea of a substance, but that he is not sure whether such substance
exists, would be the same as if he said that he had a true idea, but
was not sure whether or not it was false (a little consideration will
make this plain); or if anyone affirmed that substance is created, it
would be the same as saying that a false idea was true—in short,
the height of absurdity.
(8:14) It must,
then, necessarily be admitted
[ Bk.VIII:4095—E1:D.VIII:46,
E1:XIX:62
]
that the existence of substance
as its essence
is an eternal truth.
[ infer ]
(8:15) And
we can hence conclude by another process of reasoning
Bk.XIX:3416.
—that there is but one
such substance. (8:16) I
think that this may prof-
[ Bk.VIII:41421—NeffTL:L39(34):351,
]
itably be done at
once; and, in order to proceed regularly with the
[ note ]
demonstration, we must premise:— ]
Neff,
Bk.XIII:201184.
[
1.
(8:17) The
true definition of a thing neither involves
nor expresses Bk.XIV:1:1253.
anything
beyond the nature of the thing defined. (8:17a)
From this
it follows that—
] fixed [
2.
(8:18) No definition
implies or expresses a certain number of indi-
viduals, page 50
inasmuch as
it expresses nothing beyond the
nature of the thing defined. (18a)
For instance, the definition of
a triangle
expresses nothing beyond the actual nature
of a
triangle:
it does not imply any fixed number
of triangles.
3. (8:19)
There is necessarily
for each individual existent
thing a
cause
why it should exist. Bk.XIV:1:3192.
Bk.XIB:249.
4. (8:20)
This cause of existence
must either be contained in the
nature and definition
of the thing defined ]in
effect, existence
belongs to its nature[,
or must be postulated apart from such
definition.
[outside
]
] the thing itself. [
(8:21) It therefore follows that, if a given number of individual things
exist in nature, there must be some cause for the existence of exact-
ly that number, neither more nor less. (22) For example, if twenty men
exist in the universe (for simplicity's sake, I will suppose them exist-
ing simultaneously, and to have had no predecessors), and we want
to account for the existence of these twenty men, it will not be
enough to show the cause of human existence in general; we must
also show why
there are exactly twenty men, neither more nor less:
] Note 3 [
for a cause
must be assigned for the existence of each individual.
] Note 2 & 3[
(8:23) Now
this cause cannot be contained in the actual nature of man,
for the true
definition of man does not involve
any consideration of
] Note 4 [
the number twenty. (24)
Consequently, the cause for the existence of
these twenty men, and, consequently, of each of them, must neces-
sarily be sought externally
to each individual. (8:25) Hence
we may
[
infer absolutely
]
lay down the
absolute rule, that everything
which may consist of
] Bk.XIII:6311
on EL:L02[9](02):279.[
several individuals
must have an external
cause. (8:26)
And,
as it has been shown already that existence appertains to the nature
of substance, existence must necessarily
be included in its definition;
Bk.XVIII:69p8s2—p5.
and from its definition
alone existence must be deducible. (8:27)
But
from its definition (as we have shown, Notes 2 & 3), we cannot infer
the existence of several substances;
therefore it follows that there
Bk.XIX:3416.
is only one substance of the same nature. Q.E.D.
1P15S.
PROP. IX. Bk.III:195,198;
Bk.XIB:234102;
Bk.XIV:1:119,
140, 2121;
Bk.XVIII:69p9,
761p9.;
Bk.XIX:3519.
< E2:Def.
VI:83 >
The more reality or
being a thing
E1:Bk.XIV:1:158
has the greater the number of its
Bk.XIV:1:141.
attributes.
{ Computerized
Machines }
] Proof.— (9:1)
This is evident from Def.
iv. [
PROP. X. Bk.III:197,
200, 216; Bk.XIV:1:119,140, 141, 156,
2:221;
Bk.XVIII:141p10,2p6,
481p10,
2p6, 61p10.
Proof.— (10:1)
An attribute is that which the intellect perceives
of sub-
Bk.XVIII:1471p10d,
2p7s.
stance, as constituting its essence
(Def. iv.), and, page
51 therefore,
Bk.XIV:1:2581
must be conceived through itself (Def. iii.). Q.E.D.
] Bk.VIII:41212—E1:VIII(1):54[
Bk.XIV:1:2555,
2576,
2582.
Note.— (10:2)
It is thus evident that,
though two attributes are, in fact,
Bk.XIV:2:221;
Bk.XIX:3417.
{ Analogy—say
a heart and a lung. }
conceived as distinct—that is, one
without the help of the other—yet
Bk.XVIII:651p10s.
we cannot, therefore,
conclude that they constitute two entities, or
< Bk.XV:26316—E2:I:83,
E2:II:84 >
< Bk.XV:283162
on E5:Prf(6):244
>
two different substances.
(10:3) For it is the nature
of substance that
Bk.XIV:1:1524.
each of its attributes is conceived
through itself, inasmuch as all the
attributes it has have always existed simultaneously
in it, and none
Bk.XIV:1:1522,
2571.
could be produced by any other; but
each expresses the reality or
Bk.XIV:1:156
being of substance. (10:4)
It is, then, far from an absurdity to
ascribe
{ G-D }
several attributes to
one substance: for
nothing in nature is more
Bk.I:397.
clear than that each and every entity must be conceived under
some
attribute, and that its reality or being is in proportion
to the number of
Bk.III:199;
Bk.XIX:131;
{Sham
}.
its attributes expressing necessity
or eternity and infinity.
(10:5) Con-
sequently it is abundantly clear,
that an absolutely infinite being
] Def. vi[
must necessarily be defined
as consisting in infinite attributes
each of which expresses
a certain eternal and infinite essence.
(10:6) If
anyone now ask, by what sign shall he be able to distinguish
different substances, let him read the following
propositions, which
] Nature
[
show that there is but one
substance in the universe, and that it is
Bk.XIX:3621.
absolutely infinite, wherefore such a sign would be sought
for in vain. 1P14C1.
Prop. XI. Bk.III:195,
200; Bk.XIV:1:129, 158-213;
Bk.XV:26738
on E1:XXIX:68
; Bk.XX:228.
Bk.XIV:2:3432
G-D, or substance,
consisting of
G-D
at 100% °P
< Bk.XV:26315
on E1:VIII:48
>
infinite attributes,
of which each
Hampshire32:56
expresses eternal and
infinite
essentiality,
necessarily exists.
term
'G-D'
1P13, 14, 17C2,
19, 19S, 21,
29, 33, 34;
5P35.
{ Neff-EL:L02(02):276,
Posit:
1D6 = ONE,
Cash
Value—an
all-inclusive
organic
interdependence. }
] if you can [
Proof.— (11:1)
If this be denied, conceive, if possible,
that G-D does
[by
1A7 ]
not exist: then his essence
does not involve existence. (11:2) But
this
< Bk.XV:26317—E1:VII:48
> {Bk.XVII:141,
145}
(by Prop. vii.)
is absurd. (11:3) Therefore
G-D necessarily
exists.
Bk.XIII:624
on EL:L02[4](02).
Bk.III:54.
Another proof.—(11:4)
Of everything whatsoever
a cause or reason
must be assigned, either for its existence, or for its non-existence—
e.g., if a triangle exist, a reason or cause must be granted for its
existence; if, on the contrary, it does not exist, a cause must also be
granted, which prevents it from existing, or annuls its existence.
(11:5) This reason or cause must either be contained in the nature of
the thing in question, or be external to it. (11:6) For instance, the
reason for the non-existence of a square circle is indicated in its
page 52 nature, namely, because it would involve a contradiction.
(11:7) On the other hand, the existence of substance follows also solely
from its nature, inasmuch as its nature involves existence. (See
(11:8) But
the reason for the existence of a triangle or a circle does not
Bk.XVIII:121p11d2.
follow from the nature
of those figures, but from the order of univer-
[ corporeally ]
sal Nature in extension.
(9) From
the latter it must follow, either that a
Bk.XVIII:120p11d2;
[now
]
triangle necessarily exists, or that it is impossible that
it should exist.
(11:10) So much is self-evident. (11:11) It follows therefrom that a thing
necessarily exists, if no cause or reason be granted which prevents
its existence.
(11:12) If, then, no cause or reason can be given, which prevents the
existence of G-D, or which destroys his existence, we must certainly
conclude that he necessarily does exist. (11:13) If such a reason or
cause should be given, it must either be drawn from the very Nature
of G-D, or be external to him—that is, drawn from another substance
of another nature. (11:14) For if it were of the same nature, G-D, by that
very fact, would be admitted to exist. (11:15) But substance of another
nature could have nothing in common
with G-D (by Prop. ii.), and
] posit
or annul [
therefore would be unable either to cause or to destroy
his existence.
Bk.XIV:1:3741.
(11:16) As,
then, a reason or cause which would annul the divine exist-
ence cannot be drawn from
anything external to the Divine Nature,
] necessarily [
such cause must
perforce, if G-D does not exist, be drawn
from
G-D's own Nature, which would involve a contradiction. (17) To make
such an affirmation about a being absolutely infinite and supremely
perfect, is absurd; therefore, neither in the Nature of G-D, nor extern- Transcendent
ally to his Nature, can a cause or reason
be assigned which would
Bk.XVIII:73p11d2.
annul his existence. (11:18)
Therefore, G-D
necessarily exists. Q.E.D.
] ability [
Another proof.— (11:19)
The potentiality of non-existence
is a nega-
]weakness
[
tion of power, and contrariwise
the potentiality of existence is a
power, as is obvious. (11:20)
If, then, that which necessarily
exists is
Bk.XVIII:2971p11d3.
nothing but finite beings, such finite
beings are more powerful than
a being absolutely infinite, which is obviously absurd; therefore,
either nothing exists, or else a being absolutely infinite necessarily
exists also. (11:21) Now we exist either in ourselves, or in something
else which necessarily exists (see Ax. i. and Prop. vii.) (11:22) There-
fore page 53
a being absolutely infinite—in
other words, G-D (Def. vi.),
Bk.XIX:8913.
necessarily exists. Q.E.D.
Note.— (11:23)
In this last
proof, I have purposely shown G-D's exist-
{by
observation and induction
}
ence à posteriori, so
that the proof might be more easily followed,
{from particular
^ instances to a general principle
or law; based on observation or experiment}
not because, from the same
premises, G-D's existence does not
{
byintuition and deduction
}
follow à
priori. (24)
For, as the potentiality of existence is
a power, it
{ ^
from a general law to a particular instance; valid independently of observation}
Robinson3:170
follows that, in proportion
as reality increases
in the nature of a
^Bk.III:199
thing, so also will it increase its strength
for existence. (11:25)
There-
fore a being absolutely infinite, such as G-D, has from himself an
absolutely infinite power of existence, and hence he does
absolutely
Bk.XIX:8914.
Bk.XIV:1:208,
2101.
] to
be
exist. (11:26)
Perhaps there will be many who will be
unable to see the
convinced [
force of this
proof, inasmuch as they are accustomed only to con-
] derive [
sider those things which flow from
external causes.
(11:27) Of
such
things, they
see that those which quickly come to
pass—that is,
] likewise readily perish [
quickly come into existence—quickly
also disappear; whereas they
] to bring into being
[
] readily [
regard as more difficult of
accomplishment, that is, not so easily
brought into existence—those
things which they conceive as more
] complex[
complicated.
(11:28) However, to do away with this misconception, I need not here
show the measure of truth in the proverb, "What comes quickly,
goes quickly," nor discuss whether, from the point of view of univer-
sal Nature,
all things are equally easy, or otherwise:
I need only
Bk.XVIII:77p11d2.
remark, that I am not here speaking of
things, which come to pass
through causes external to themselves,
but only of substances
which (by Prop. vi.) cannot be produced by any external cause.
(11:29) Things
which are produced by external causes, whether they
< Bk.XV:26418—E2:D.VI:83
>
consist of many parts or few, owe
whatsoever perfection or reality
Bk.XIV:1:3198.
they possess solely to the efficacy of their external
cause, and there-
fore their existence arises solely from the perfection
of their external
Bk.XIV:1:2111.
cause, not from their own. (11:30)
Contrariwise, whatsoever perfection
is possessed by substance is due to no external cause; wherefore
the existence of substance must arise solely from its own Nature,
which is nothing else but its essence.
(11:31) Thus,
the perfection of a
{1D6=
ONE}
]posits
[
thing does not
annul its existence, but, on the contrary, asserts
it.
(11:32) Imperfection, on the other hand, does annul it; therefore we
cannot be more certain of
the existence of anything, than of the
] an Entity [
Bk.XIV:1:2122.
existence of a being absolutely infinite
or perfect—that is, of G-D.
(11:33) For inasmuch as his essence page 54 excludes all imperfection,
and involves absolute perfection, all cause for doubt concerning his
existence is done away, and the utmost certainty on the question is
given. (11:34) This, I think, will be evident to every moderately attentive
reader.
PROP. XII. Bk.III:200;
Bk.XVIII:85p12.
Proof.— (12:1)
The parts
into which substance
as thus conceived
Bk.XVIII:82p12d—p15s.
would be divided, either will retain the nature
of substance, or they
will not. (2) If the former, then (by Prop. viii.) each part will necessar-
ily be infinite, and (by Prop. vi.) self-caused, and (by Prop. v.) will
perforce consist of a different attribute, so that, in that case, several
substances could be formed out of one substance, which (by
Prop. vi.) is absurd. (3) Moreover, the parts (by Prop. ii.) would have
nothing in common with their whole, and the whole (by Def. iv. and
Prop. x.) could both exist and be conceived without its parts, which
everyone will admit to be absurd. (12:4) If we adopt the second alter-
native—namely, that the parts will not retain the nature of substance
—then, if the whole substance were divided into equal parts, it
would lose the nature of substance, and would cease to exist, which
(by Prop. vii.) is absurd.
PROP. XIII. Bk.XIV:1:121,157;
Bk.XVIII:82p13,c,s—p15s.
Substance absolutely
infinite is
indivisible. Bk.XIV:1:156.
{Analogy,
Pantheism, Disclaimer.}
Proof.— (13:1) If it could be divided, the parts into which it was divided
would either retain the nature of absolutely infinite substance, or
they would not. (2) If the former, we should have several substances
of the same nature, which (by Prop.
v.) is absurd. (13:3)
If the latter,
[ P12 ]
then (by Prop. vii.) substance absolutely
infinite could cease to exist,
which (by Prop. xi.) is also absurd.
Corollary.—
(13:4) It
follows that no substance, and consequently no
] corporeal[
< Bk.XV:26315
on E1:VIII(1):48
>
extended substance, in so
far as it is substance,
is divisible.
Bk.XVIII:76p13cs;
82p13,c,s—p15s.
1P15S
Note.— (13:5) The indivisibility of substance may be more easily under-
stood as follows. (6) The nature of substance can only be conceived
as infinite, and by a part of substance,
nothing else can be under-
] obvious [
stood than finite substance, which (by Prop.
viii.) involves a manifest
contradiction.
PROP. XIV.
Bk.XIV:1:112, 214-261,
323; Bk.XVIII:661p14.
Proof. (14:1)
As G-D is a being
absolutely infinite, of whom page
55
Bk.XVIII:251p14d—1d6.
no attribute that
expresses the essence of substance can be denied
(by Def. vi.), and
he necessarily exists (by Prop. xi.);
if any sub-
{ posited }
stance besides G-D were granted it would
have to be explained by
some attribute of G-D, and thus two substances with the same attri-
bute would exist, which (by Prop.
v.) is absurd; therefore, besides
Bk.XVIII:70p14d.
G-D no substance can be granted, or consequently,
be conceived.
(14:2) If it could be conceived, it would necessarily have to be con-
ceived as existent; but this (by the first part of this proof) is absurd.
(14:3) Therefore, besides G-D no substance can be granted or con-
ceived. Q.E.D. Bk.XVIII:811p14d,1501p14d.
Corollary I.— (14:4)
Clearly, therefore:—
Bk.XVIII:104p14c1,
Motive.
{ posited }
1. G-D is one,
that is (by Def. vi.) only one substance
can be granted 1D6
= ONE
in the
universe, and that substance is absolutely
infinite, as we
have already indicated (in
the note to Prop. x.). 1P17C2,
24C, 29S, 30,
33; 2P4.
Bk.XIB:247141;
Bk.XVIII:1984.
{From Max Jammer's "Einstein and Religion"; ISBN: 0691006997; 1999; p. 57.
Einstein never ceased to believe
that there ought to exist an unified field
theory. This belief may well have been rooted
in his Spinozistic conviction
in the unity
of nature: "G-D is One, hence in the nature of things only one
subtance is given; 1P14c. Spinoza
taught that nature is divine and G-D is
One, and
the most fundamental maxim of Judaism, the "Shma'
Israel" Elwes
[37]
("Hear,
O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One";
Deuteronomy
6:4)
was well known
to Einstein from his early religious instruction." Clearly
Einstein's indomitable
striving throughout his later lifetime- for "oneness"
in physics ...... }
Corollary II.— (14:5)
It follows:—
Body, Mind, and
Spinoza—E1:Damasio:209,
217.
2. That extension
and thought are either attributes
of G-D
Bk.XIV:2:82
or (by Ax.
i.) accidents (affectiones)
of the attributes of G-D.
<
Bk.XV:26419—E2:I
& II:83, Bk.XV:xix
>
Bk.III:201.
PROP. XV. Bk.III:200,
201, 208; Bk.XIB:253157;
Bk.XIV:1:xvi3,
296-330.
]Apart
from [
Proof.— (15:1)
Besides G-D, no substance is granted
or can be con-
ceived (by Prop. xiv.), that is (by Def. iii.) nothing which is in itself
and is conceived through itself. (2) But modes (by Def. v.) can neither
be, nor be conceived without substance; wherefore they can
only be in the Divine Nature, and can only through it be conceived.
(15:3) But substances and modes form the sum total of existence (by
Ax. i.), therefore, without G-D nothing can be, or be conceived.
Q.E.D.
Bk.XIV:1:262-295.
[ 1 ]
Bk.XIV:1:3011.
< Bk.XV:26420—E1:XIV:54,
Parts
and Whole
>
Note.— (15:4)
Some assert that G-d,
like a man, consists of body
and
1D6
{waves,
Reality Curve, C:4.4.
}
mind, and is susceptible
of passions. (5)
How far such persons have
Calculus:6.2b
& c.
strayed from the truth is sufficiently evident from what
has been said.
] dismiss [
Bk.XIV:1:3012—looked
into
(15:6) But
these I pass over. (15:7)
For all who have in anywise reflected
Bk.XIV:1:2583.
on the divine Naturedeny
that G-d has a body. (15:8)
Of this they find
excellent proof in the fact that we understand by body a definite
quantity, so long, so broad, so deep, bounded by a certain shape,
and it is the height of absurdity to predicate
such a thing of G-D, a
] arguments [
being absolutely infinite. (9)
But meanwhile by the other reasons with
which they try to prove their point, they show that they think corpo-
real or extended substance wholly apart
from the Divine Nature, and
] assert[
say page 56
it was created
by G-D. (15:10)
Wherefrom the Divine Nature
can have been created, they are wholly
ignorant; thus they clearly
show, that they do not know the meaning of their own
words. (15:11) I
myself have proved sufficiently clearly, at any rate in my own judg-
ment (Coroll. Prop. vi.,
and Note 2, Prop. viii.), that no
substance
< E1:VI(2)C:48
>
can be produced or created by anything
other than itself. (12)
Further,
I showed (in Prop. xiv.),
that besides G-D no
substance can be
granted or conceived. (15:13)
Hence we drew the conclusion
that ex-
< E1:VIII(1):48
>
tended substance is one of the infiniteattributes
ofG-D. (15:14)
How-
ever, in order to explain more fully, I will refute the arguments of my
adversaries, which all start from the following points:—
[
II ]
(15:15) Extended
substance, in so far as it is substance, consists, as
] and so [
they think, in parts,
wherefore they deny that it can be infinite, or,
Bk.XIV:1:2621.
consequently, that it can appertain to G-d.
(15:16) This
they illustrate
with many examples, of which I will take one or two. (15:17) If extended
substance, they say, is infinite, let it be conceived to be divided into
two parts each part will then be either finite or infinite. (15:18) If the
former, then infinite substance is composed of two finite parts, which
is absurd. (15:19)
If the latter, then one infinite will be twice
as large as
Bk.XIV:1:2741.
another infinite, which is also absurd.
Bk.XII:1811;
Bk.XIII:10366.
(15:20) Further,
if an infinite line be measured out in foot lengths, it will
consist of an infinite number of such parts; it would equally consist
of an infinite number of parts,
if each part measured only an inch:
Bk.XIV:1:2881;
Bk.XVIII:76p15s,
104p15s;
Bk.XIX:3313.
therefore, one infinity would be
twelve times as great as the other.
< Bk.XV:26421
>
(15:21) Lastly,
if from a single point there be conceived
to be drawn two
] See
Sketch, Bk.VII:41[;
Bk.VIII:422.
diverging lines which at first are at a definite
distance apart, but are
^
Bk.XIV:1:2932.
produced to infinity,
it is certain that the distance between the two
lines will be continually increased,
until at length it changes from
{ Bk.XVII:47—"A
remarkable feature ..." }
definite to indefinable.
(15:22) As
these absurdities follow, it is said, from
considering quantity as infinite, the conclusion is drawn, that extend-
ed substance must necessarily be finite, and, consequently, cannot
appertain to the Nature of G-D.
[ III
]
] consummate [
(15:23) The
second argument is also
drawn from G-D's supreme per-
fection. (15:24) G-D, it is said, inasmuch as he is a supremely perfect
being, cannot be passive; but extended substance, in so far as it is
divisible, is passive. (15:25) It follows, therefore, page 57 that extended
substance does not appertain to the essence of G-d.
[
IV ]
(15:26) Such
are the arguments I find on the subject in writers, who by
them try to prove that extended substance
is unworthy of the divine
Spinoza's
Daring
pertain—Bk.XIV:1:2683.
nature, and cannot possibly appertain thereto. (15:27)
However, I think
Satan
an attentive reader will see that I have already answered their pro-
positions; for all their arguments are founded on
the hypothesis that
{ Part
and Whole}
extended substance is composed
of parts, and such a hypothesis
I have shown (Prop.
xii., and Coroll. Prop. xiii.)
to be absurd.
(15:28) Moreover,
anyone who reflects will see that all these absurd-
ities (if absurdities they be,
which I am not now discussing), from
] they seek to prove
[
which it is sought to extract
the conclusion that extended substance
] supposition [
is finite, do not at all follow from the notion of
an infinite quantity, but
Bk.III:184,
185—NeffE5:L29(12):319.
merely from the notion that an infinite
quantity is
measurable, and
composed of finite parts; therefore,
the only fair conclusion to be
Bk.XIV:1:2632;
Bk.XVIII:1981p15s.
drawn is that infinite quantity
is not measurable, and cannot be
Bk.XVIII:10415s.
composed of finite parts. (15:29)
This is exactly what we have already
proved ( in Prop. xii. ). (15:30) Wherefore the weapon which they
aimed at us has in reality recoiled upon themselves. (15:31) If, from
this absurdity of theirs, they
persist in drawing the conclusion that
] surely
[
extended substance must be finite, they will in
good sooth be acting
like a man who asserts that circles have the properties of squares,
and, finding himself thereby landed in absurdities, proceeds to deny
that circles have any centre, from which all lines drawn
to the circum-
] corporeal [
ference are equal. (15:32)
For, taking extended substance, which can
< E1:VIII(1):48
> Bk.XIV:1:2813.
only be conceived as infinite, one,
and indivisible (Props.
viii., v., xii.)
]conceive
[
they assert, in order to prove that it
is finite, that it is composed of
Bk.XIV:1:2853.
finite parts, and
that it can be multiplied and divided.
Bk.XII:180—Wherefore
they ...
< Bk.XV:26422—Neff-E5:L29(12):322
>
(15:33) So,
also, others, after asserting that a line is composed of points,
can produce many arguments to prove that a line cannot be infinitely
divided. (34) Assuredly it is not less absurd to assert that extended
substance is made up of bodies or parts, than it would be to assert
that a solid is made up of surfaces,
a surface of lines, and a line of
Bk.XVIII:85p15s.
points. (35)
This must be admitted by all who know clear
reasonto
be
infallible, and most of all by those who deny the possibility of a
vacuum. (15:36) For if extended substance could be so page 58 divided
that its parts were really separate, why should not one part admit of
being destroyed, the others remaining
joined together as before?
(15:37) And
why should all be so fitted into one another as to leave no
vacuum? (15:38) Surely in the case of things, which are really distinct
one from the other, one can exist without the other, and can remain
in its original condition. (15:39)
As then, there does not exist a vacuum in
< Bk.XV:26423—L9(13):287
>
Nature
(of which anon),
but all parts are bound to come together
to
prevent it, it
follows from this also that the parts cannot be
really
corporeal—Bk.XIV:1:2671.
distinguished, and that
extended substance
in so far as it is
substance cannot be divided.
[
V ]
(15:40) If
anyone asks me the further question, Why are we
naturally
so prone to divide
quantity? (41) I
answer, that quantity is conceived
{1
}
] , or [
by us in two ways; in the abstract
and superficially, as we imagine
{
2 }
{intuition}
it; or as substance,
as we conceive it solely by the intellect. (15:42)
If,
then, we regard quantity as it is represented in our imagination,
which we often and more easily do, we shall find that it is finite,
divisible, and compounded of parts; but if we regard it as it is repre-
sented in our intellect, and conceive it as substance, which it is very
difficult to do, we shall then, as I
have sufficiently proved, find that
[ unique ]
it is infinite,
one, and indivisible. (15:43)
This will be plain enough to all,
< Bk.XV:26424—E2:XL(19)n2:113,
Bk.XV:26955
on E1:Ap(61):81.
>
who make a distinction between
the intellect and the imagination,
Bk.XIV:1:2633.^
especially if it be remembered, that matter
is everywhere the same,
{E=Mc²,
Bk.XVII:21}
that its parts are not distinguishable,
except in so far as we con-
^ 2P13L1
ceive matter as diversely modified, whence its parts
are distinguish-
] Bk.VII:422—E1:XII
& XIII:54 [
ed, not really, but modally.
(15:44)
For instance, water, in so
far as it
is water, we conceive to be divided,
and its parts to be separated
{corporeal}
one from the other; but not
in so far as it is extended substance;
from this point of view it is neither separated
nor divisible. (15:45)
Fur-
{synthesized}
{analyzed}
ther, water, in so far as it is water,
is produced and corrupted; but,
{E=Mc², Bk.XVII:21}
Bk.XVIII:97p15s.
in so far as it is substance,
it is neither produced nor corrupted.
{CashValue—an
all-inclusive uncorrupted organic interdependence.}
[
VI ]
(15:46) I
think I have now answered the second argument;
it is, in fact,
founded on the same assumption as the first—namely, that matter,
in so far as it is
substance, is divisible, and composed of parts.
] not [
(15:47) Even
if it were so, I do not know why it should be considered
unworthy of the divine Nature,
inasmuch as besides G-D (by Prop.
]
external [
{posited}
] from which [
xiv.) no substance
can page 59
be granted, wherefrom
it could
receive its modifications. (15:48)
All things, I repeat, are in G-D, and all
^ Bk.III:177.
things which come to pass, come to pass solely through
the laws of
the infinite Nature
of G-D, and follow (as I will shortly show) from the
Bk.XVIII:1471p15s.
necessity of his essence.
(15:49)
Wherefore it can in nowise
be said,
that G-D is passive
in respect to anything other than himself, or that
Bk.XIV:1:2691.
extended substance is unworthy of the DivineNature,
even if it be
supposed divisible, so long as it is granted to be infinite and eternal.
(15:50) But
enough of this for the present.
2P13L1.
PROP. XVI. Bk.III:197,
198, 200, 202, 204, 208; Bk.XII:1741. Knowing
G-D—Yirmiyahu Yovel—Stewart:177
From the necessity
of the Divine
ST:Metaphor
{ immanently}
Bk.XIB:249.
Nature must ^
follow an infinite num-
E1:Appendix:65
ber of things
in infinite ways—that
E1:Parkinson:26425
is, all things which can fall
within
the sphere of infinite
intellect.
Bk.XIV:1:306,
440.
Bk.XIB:248146;Bk.XVIII:75p16;
122p16;Bk.XIX:1027.
^
1P17,
17S, 25S, 26,
29, 33, 34,
36; 1App.; 2P3,
44C2, 45S;
4Pref., 4;
5P22.
{Cash
Value—an
all-inclusive uncorrupted organic
interdependence.}
Proof.— (16:1)
This proposition will be clear to everyone,
who remem-
] one [;
Bk.XIX:144.
bers that from the given definition
of any thing the intellect infers
several properties, which really necessarily follow therefrom (that is,
from the actual essence of the thing defined); and it infers more pro-
perties in proportion as the definition of the thing expresses more
reality, that is, in proportion as the essence of the thing defined
involves more reality.
(16:2) Now,
as the Divine Nature
has absolutely
Bk.III:176;Bk.XIX:1189.
{G-D
}
infinite attributes
(by Def. vi.), of which
each expresses infinite
essence after its kind, it follows that from
the necessity of its nature
{modes
};
Bk.XVIII:14713—1p25c;Bk.XIX:144.
an infinite number of things (that is, everything
which can fall within
the sphere of an infinite intellect) must necessarily follow. Q.E.D.
< Bk.XV:26425—E1:XVI:59,
< Bk.XV:26526—E1:XVIII:62,
E1:XVI(5)C3:59 >
Bk.XV:27698
on E2:XLIV(11)C2:117
>
Bk.XIV:1:3064,
3572.
Corollary I.— (16:3)
Hence it follows, that G-D is the efficient
cause of
E1:Parkinson:26425
all that can fall within the sphere
of an infinite
intellect.
1P17S, 18,
34.
Bk.III:202,
204.
< Bk.XV:26527
>
Corollary II.— (16:4)
It also follows that G-D is a cause
in himself, and
causa
sui
not through an accident
of his Nature.
1P34.
Conceived
thru itself.
[ Bk.VIII:42545—Bk.XIV:1:307
], Bk.XIV:1:3072.
< Bk.XV:26528—E1:XV:55
>
Corollary III.— (16:5)
It follows, thirdly,
that G-D is the absolutely
first cause—{
Bk.XV:26528,
Bk.XV:xix,
Bk.XVII:7 & 145.}.
Bk.XIV:1:3074.
PROP. XVII. Bk.XIB:249147;Bk.XIV:1:3083,3091,313,
402; Bk.XIX:10411.
Proof.— (17:1) We have just shown (in Prop. xvi.), that solely from the
necessity of the Divine Nature, or, what is the same thing,
solely from
{G-D's}
the laws of his nature, an infinite number of
things absolutely follow
in an infinite number of ways; and we proved (in Prop. xv.), that
without G-D page
60 nothing
can be nor be conceived; but that all
]external
to G-D [
things are in G-D. (17:2)
Wherefore nothing can exist outside
himself,
whereby he can be conditioned or constrained to act. (3) Wherefore
G-D acts solely by the laws of his own Nature, and is not constrained
by anyone. Q.E.D.
Corollary I.— (17:4) It follows:
I. That there
can be no cause which, either extrinsically
or intrinsi-
cally, besides
the perfection of his own Nature,
moves G-D to act.
Bk.XIV:1:313
Bk.XIV:1:3083.
Corollary II.— (17:5)
It follows:
Bk.III:202.
< Bk.XV:26739—E1:XIX(8)N:68
>
2. That G-D
is the sole free cause.
(17:6)
For G-D alone exists
by
Spinoza's
Religion
the
sole necessity of his Nature
(by Prop. xi. and Prop. xiv.,
Coroll.
i.), and acts by the sole necessity of his Nature, wherefore
G-D
is (by Def. vii.) the sole free cause.
Q.E.D.
<
E1:Bk.XV:26739.
> 1P29S;
2P48.
Bk.XIV:1:3083,
3852;
Bk.XVIII:1984,
3051p17c2.
[ Bk.VIII:42547—Bk.XIV:1:308-319
]
{ E1:XXXIII(15):72}
< E1:Bk.XV:26529—E1:XXXV:74,
E1:D.VII:46 >
Note.— (17:7)
Others think that G-D is a free
cause, because he can,
as they think, bring it about,
that those things which we have said
Bk.III:206.
Bk.XIV:1:3142.
Durant:63982
follow from his Nature—that
is, which are in his power,
should not
Wolfson:1:4032
come to pass, or should not be produced by him. (17:8) But this is the
same as if they said, that G-D
could bring it about, that it should not
Bk.XIV:1:901,3981.
follow from the nature of a
triangle, that its three
interior angles
Bk.XIV:1:3131.
Bk.XIB:234100;
Bk.XX:23067.
should not be equal to two right angles;
or that from a given cause
no effect should follow, which is absurd. 1P33S2
(17:9) Moreover,
I will show below, without the aid of this proposition,
Bk.XIX:1038.
that neither intellect nor will
appertain to G-D's Nature.
(17:10) I
know
that there are many who
think that they can show, that supreme
Bk.III:209;Bk.XVIII:1601p17s.
intellect and free
will do appertain to G-D's nature;
for they say they
know of nothing more perfect, which they can attribute to God, than
that which is the highest perfection in ourselves. (17:11) Further,
although they conceive God as actually supremely intelligent, they
yet do not believe, that he can bring into existence everything which
he actually understands, for they think that they would thus destroy
God's power. (17:12) If, they contend, God had created everything
which is in his intellect,
he would not be able to create anything
Bk.XIV:1:3162,
4113;
Bk.XIX:1039.
more, and this, they think,
would clash with God's omnipotence;
therefore, they prefer to assert that God is indifferent to all things,
and that he creates nothing
except that which he has decided, by
Bk.XIV:1:3161.
some absolute exercise of will, to
create. (17:13)
However, I think I
have shown sufficiently clearly (by Prop. xvi. ), that from G-D's
supreme power, or infinite
page 61
Nature, an infinite number
of
Bk.XVIII:75p17s;122p17s.
things—that is,
all things have necessarily flowed forth in an infinite
number of ways, or always follow
from the same necessity; in the
Bk.XIV:1:901,3131.
same way as from the nature of a triangle
it follows from eternity and
for eternity, that its three interior angles are equal
to two right angles.
{Metaphors}
(17:14)
Wherefore the omnipotence of G-D
has been displayed from all
Chain
of Natural Events
Bk.XVIII:2051p17s.
eternity, and will for all eternity
remain in the same state of activity.
(17:15) This manner of treating the question attributes to G-D an omni-
potence, in my opinion, far more perfect. (16) For, otherwise, we are
compelled to confess that God understands an infinite number of
creatable things, which he will never be able to create, for, if he
created all that he understands, he would, according to this showing,
exhaust his omnipotence, and render himself imperfect. (17:17) Where-
fore, in order to establish that God is perfect, we should be reduced
to establishing at the same time, that he cannot bring to pass every-
thing over which his power extends; this seems to be an hypothesis
most absurd, and most repugnant to G-D's
omnipotence.
(17:18) Further
(to say a word here concerning the intellect and the will
which we attribute to God), if intellect and will appertain to the etern-
al essence of God, we must take these words in some
significations
< Bk.XV:26530—E2:XI(7)c:91,
E2:XLIII(5)n:114, E5:XL(5)n:268,
E1:XXI:63 "we
are not to
think of G-D, the ultimate
explanation of all things, as a being
which forms plans (by his intellect) and
carries them out (through his will)."
> {but
that all things flow immanently from
G-D.}
quite different from those they usually bear.
(19) For
intellect and will,
] would [
] have to [
which should constitute the essence of God,
would perforce be as
]
vastly different
[
far apart as the
poles from the human intellect and
will, in fact,
would have nothing in common with them but the name; there would
be about as much correspondence
between the two as there is
] celestial [
between the Dog, the heavenly constellation,
and a dog, an animal
Bk.XVIII:341p17s.
that barks. (17:20)
This I will prove
as follows: If intellect belongs to the
Divine Nature, it cannot be in nature, as ours is generally thought to
be, posterior to, or simultaneous
with the things understood, inas-
Bk.XIV:1:3752.
much as G-D is prior to all things by reason of his casualty
(Prop. xvi.
< E1:Bk.XV:26531;
TEI:Bk.XV:287196
>
Coroll. i.). (17:21)
On the contrary, the
truth and formal essence
of things
^ Bk.XIV:2:2929.
is as it is, because it exists by representation
as such in the intellect
of G-D; Wherefore the intellect of G-D, in so far as it is conceived to
constitute G-D's essence, is,
in reality, the cause of things, both of
their essence and of their
existence. (17:22)
This seems to page
62 have
been recognized by those who have
asserted, that G-D's
intellect,
Bk.XIV:2:1711.
G-D's will, and G-D's power, are one
and the same. (23) As,
therefore,
G-D's intellect is the sole cause of things, namely, both of their
essence and existence, it must necessarily differ from them in respect
to its essence, and in respect
to its existence. (17:24)
For a cause
Bk.III:208.
differs from a thing it causes, precisely
in the quality which the latter
gains from the former.
Bk.III:204.
(17:25) For
example, a man is the cause
of another man's existence,
but not of his essence (for the latter is an eternal truth), and, there-
fore, the two men may be entirely similar in essence, but must be
different in existence; and hence if the existence of one of them
cease, the existence of the other will not necessarily cease also;
but if the essence
of one could be destroyed, and be made false,
Bk.XIX:19410.
the essence of the other would be destroyed also. (17:26)
Wherefore,
a thing which is the cause both of the essence and of the existence
of a given effect, must differ from such effect both in respect to its
essence, and also in respect to its existence. (17:27) Now the intellect
of G-D is the cause of both the essence and the existence of our
intellect; therefore the intellect of G-D in so far as it is conceived
to constitute the divine essence, differs from our intellect both in
respect to essence and in respect to existence, nor can it in anywise
agree therewith save in name, as we said before. (17:28) The reasoning
would be identical, in the case of the will,
as anyone can easily see..
PROP. XVIII. Bk.XIB:250149;
Bk.XIV:1:111, 319, 322; Bk.XVIII:113p18.
Bk.III:157, 176 202. 208.
G-D is
the indwelling [immanent]
and
Durant:63984
not the transient
cause of all things.
Bk.XIV:1:323.
{Analogy—You
are the immanent cause of all things that pertain to you.}
{ E1:XV:55;
Cash Value—Posits}
Proof.— (18:1) All things which are, are in G-D, and must be con-
ceived through G-D (by Prop. xv.), therefore (by Prop. xvi., Coroll. i.)
G-D is the cause of those things which are in him. (2) This is our first
point. (18:3) Further, besides G-D there can be no substance (by
Prop. xiv.), that is nothing in itself external to G-D. (18:4) This is our
second point. (18:5) G-D therefore, is the indwelling and not the
transient cause of all things.
Q.E.D.
PROP. XIX. Bk.XIV:1:370-399;
Bk.XIX:132.
G-D, and all
the attributes
of G-D, are eternal.
1P20.
Bk.XIV:1:3753.
Proof.— (19:1)
G-D (by Def. vi.
) is substance, which (by Prop.
xi.)
Bk.XIV:1:3755—pertains
necessarily exists, that is (by Prop.
vii.) existence appertains to its
Nature, or (what is the same thing) follows page 63 from its definition;
therefore, G-D is eternal (by Def. viii.). (2) Further, by the attributes
of G-D we must understand that which (by Def. iv.) expresses the
essence of the divine substance—in
other words, that which apper-
Bk.XIX:1612.
tains to substance: that, I say, should be involved in the
attributes of
substance. (19:3) Now eternity appertains to the nature of substance
(as I have already shown in Prop. vii.); therefore, eternity must
appertain to each of the attributes, and thus all are eternal. Q.E.D.
Bk.XVIII:147p19d,
14713—1p25c.
Note.— (19:4)
This proposition
is also evident from the manner in
which (in Prop. xi.) I demonstrated the existence of G-D; it is evident,
I repeat, from that proof, that
the existence of G-D, like his essence,
Bk.XIV:1:3758.
is an eternal
truth. (19:5) Further
(in Prop. xix. of my "Principles of the
< Bk.XV:26532—E1:XXXIII(21)N2:72
>
Cartesian Philosophy"), I have
proved the eternity of
G-D, in another
manner, which I need not here repeat.
Proof.— (20:1)
G-D
(by the last Prop.) and all his attributes are eternal,
Bk.XIX:1612.
that is (by Def.
viii.) each of his attributes
expresses existence.
(20:2) Therefore
the same attributes of G-D which explain his eternal
] Def. iv [
essence, explain at the same
time his eternal existence—in other
words, that which constitutes G-D's essence constitutes at the
same time his existence. (20:3)
Wherefore G-D's existence and G-D's
Bk.XIX:16021.
essence are one and the same. Q.E.D.
Bk.XIX:132.
Corollary I.— (20:4)
Hence it follows that
G-D's existence, like his
essence, is an eternal truth.
Bk.XIV:1:3758.
Corollary II.— (20:5)
Secondly, it follows that G-D,
and all the attrib-
utes of G-D, are unchangeable. (6)
For if they could be changed in
respect to existence, they
must also be able
to be changed in
respect to essence ]Prop.
xx.[—that is, obviously,
be changed
from true to false, which is absurd. 1P21;
5P17.
Bk.III:202—immutable
Bk.XIV:1:3755;Bk.XVIII:64p19,20c2;
2081p20c2.
PROP. XXI. Bk.III:202,
203; Bk.XIV:1:376; Bk.XVIII:88p21,22—E1:D.II:45,
Bk.XVIII:111p21,22—E1:D.VIII:46.
All things
which follow from the
absolute Nature
of any attribute
of G-D must ]have[
always existed
Calculus:4.7
and be infinite, or, in other words,
<
Bk.XV:26633—Neff-L66(64):400,
E2:Ax.1:93. >
< Bk.XV:26530—E1:XVII(18)N:61.
>
< Bk.XV:26737—E1:XXVIII(8)N:67.
>
< Bk.XV:285178—E5:XL(5)N:268.
>
{Bk.XII:1651—Neff-L68(66):401.}
are eternal
and infinite through
the said attribute.
{E1:Endnote
21:5}
1P22, 28,
29, 1App.; 2P11,
30; 4P4; 5P40S
]
Suppose, if you can
[
Proof. (21:1)
Conceive, if
it be possible (supposing the proposition
to be denied), that something in some attribute of G-D can follow
from the absolute Nature of the said attribute,
and that at the same
[determinate]
<fixed>
Bk.XIV:1:3532.
time it is finite, and page
64 has a conditioned
existence or duration;
[Bk.VIII:42954—E2:III:84,
E2:VII(3)c:86; Bk.XIV:1:238ff;
Bk.XII:165,187. ]
]Bk.VII:474
on E1:Endnote
21:1 [
for instance, theidea
of G-D expressed in the attribute thought.
Bk.XIV:1:2384
^ >infinite
intellect of G-D—Bk.III:203
<
(21:2) Now
Thought, in so far
as it is supposed to be an attribute of
] ^ assumed[
G-D, is necessarily (by Prop. xi.) in its
Nature infinite.
(21:3) But,
in so
{ man's }
far as it possesses the idea of G-D
it is supposed finite. (3a)
It cannot,
] determined[
however, be conceived as finite, unless it be limited
by Thought (by
Def. ii.); but it is not limited
by Thought itself, in so far as it has
con-
{ man's }
stituted the idea of G-D (for
so far it is supposed to be finite); there-
] determined[
fore, it is limited by Thought,
in so far as it has not constituted the
] E1:Endnote
21:1 [
idea of G-D,
which nevertheless (by Prop. xi.) must
necessarily
exist.
] There must be,
[
(21:4)
We have now granted, therefore,
thought not constituting the
] E1:Endnote
21:1 [
{ man's }
idea of G-D,
and, accordingly, the idea
of G-D does not naturally
follow from its Nature in so far as it is absolute Thought (for it is con-
ceived as constituting, and also as not constituting,
the idea of G-D),
] contrary to [
which is against our hypothesis.
(21:5) Wherefore,
if the idea of G-D
expressed in the attribute Thought, or, indeed, anything else in any
attribute of G-D ( for we may take any
example, as the proof is of
{E1:Endnote
21:5 }
universal application)
follows from the necessity of the absolute
Nature of the said attribute, the said thing must necessarily be infinite,
which was our first point.
(21:6) Furthermore, a thing which thus follows from the necessity of the
Nature of any attribute cannot have a limited duration. (7) For if it can
suppose a thing, which follows from the necessity of the nature of
some attribute, to exist in some
attribute of G-D, for instance, the
] E1:Endnote
21:1 [
idea
of G-D expressed in the attribute
Thought, and let it be sup-
posed at some time not to have existed, or to be about not to exist.
] assumed [
(21:8)
Now Thought
being an attribute of G-D, must necessarily exist
] immutable[
unchanged (by Prop. xi., and Prop.
xx., Coroll. ii.); and beyond the
Bk.XVIII:2041p21d.
{ wrongly }
limits of the duration of the
idea of G-D (supposing the latter
at some
time not to have existed, or not to be going to exist), Thought would
perforce have existed without the idea of G-D, which is contrary to
our hypothesis, for we supposed that, Thought being given, the idea
of G-D necessarily flowed therefrom. (21:9) Therefore the idea of G-D
expressed in Thought, or anything which necessarily page 65 follows
from the absolute Nature
of some attribute of G-D,
cannot have a
] determinate
existence [
limited duration, but through
the said attribute is eternal, which is our
second point. (21:10)
Bear in mind that the same proposition
may be
affirmed of anything, which in any attribute necessarily follows from
PROP. XXII. Bk.III:203;
Bk.XVIII:88p21,22—E1:D.II:45,
Bk.XVIII:111p21,22—E1:D.VIII:46.
Whatsoever follows from any attribute
of G-D, in so far as it
is modified by
a modification,
which exists neces-
Bk.XIV:1:378.
sarily and as infinite,
through the said
attribute, must also exist necessarily,
and as infinite. 1P28,
1App; 2P11
< Bk.XV:26634—Neff-L66(64):399;last
paragraph. >
< Bk.XV:26737—E1:XXVIII(8)N:67.
>
< Bk.XV:27276—E2:XIII(30)N2:96.
>
{ Bk.XII:1651—Neff-L68(66):401.}
Proof.— (22:1)The
proof of this proposition is similar to that of the
preceding one.
{ Good
luck! }
{ Bk.XII:1651—Neff-L68(66):401}
Every mode, which
exists both Bk.XIV:1:379.
necessarily and as infinite,
must
Analogy
necessarily follow either from the
absolute
Nature of some attribute
of G-D,
or from an attribute
modified by a modification
which
exists necessarily, and as infinite.
1App.
Proof.— (23:1)
A mode exists in something else, through which
it must
be conceived (Def. v.), that is (Prop. xv.), it exists solely in G-D, and
solely through G-D can be conceived. (23:2) If, therefore, a mode is
conceived as necessarily existing and infinite, it must
necessarily be
Bk.XIX:10513.
inferred or perceived through some
attribute of G-D,
in so far as
such attribute is conceived as expressing
the infinity and necessity
Bk.XIV:1:3791.
of existence, in other words (Def. viii.)
eternity; that is, in so far as it
is considered absolutely. (23:3)
A mode, therefore,
which necessarily
G-D at 100% °P
{ Bk.XII:187
}
exists as infinite,
must follow from the absolute Nature
of some attri-
] directly [
Bk.XIV:1:2442.
] mediation [
bute of G-D, either immediately
(Prop. xxi.) or through
the means of
some modification, which follows from the absolute Nature of the
said attribute; that is (by Prop. xxii.), which exists necessarily and as
infinite.
PROP. XXIV. Bk.III:204;
Bk.XIV:1:1261,3849;
Bk.XVIII:2351p24,c;
Bk.XIX:1938.
Proof.— (24:1) This proposition is evident from (Def. i). (24:2) For that
of which the Nature (considered in itself) involves existence is self- Conceived thru itself.
caused,
and exists by the sole necessity of its own Nature.
Corollary.—
(24:3)
Hence it follows that G-D is
not only the cause of
Bk.XIV:1:3826.
things coming into existence, but also of their continuing
in existence,
that is, in scholastic
phraseology, page 66 G-D
is cause of the being
{ ^ the immanent}
of things (essendi rerum).
(4) For
whether things exist, or do not exist,
] reflect on [
whenever we contemplate their essence,
we see that it involves
Bk.XVIII:2351p24,c.
neither existence nor duration;
consequently, it cannot be the cause
Bk.XVIII:1984.
of either the one or the other. (24:5)
G-D must be
the sole cause, inas-
much as to him alone does existence appertain. (Prop.xiv. Coroll. i.)
Q.E.D. 1P28,
1P28S; 2P45S;
4P4.
PROP. XXV. Bk.III:204,
205; Bk.XVIII:1281;
Bk.XIX:1937;Bk.
32:pg50.
G-D is the efficient
cause not only Cash
Value—Posits
of the existence of things,
but also
of their essence.
1P26; 5P22,
24.
Bk.XIV:1:3831.
Proof.— (25:1) If this be denied, then G-D is not the cause of the es-
sence of things; and therefore the essence of things can (by Ax.iv.)
be conceived without G-D.
(25:2)
This (by Prop.
xv.) is absurd.
Bk.III:14318
(25:3) Therefore,
G-D is the cause of the essence of things. Q.E.D.
Note.— (25:4)
This proposition
follows more clearly from Prop.
xvi.
(5) For it is evident thereby that, given the Divine Nature, the essence
of things must be inferred from it, no less than their existence—in a
word, G-D must be called the cause of all things, in the
same sense
Bk.XIX:1003;16420.
as he is called the cause
of himself. (25:6)
This will be made still
clearer by the following corollary. {L65(63):396, Neff—L66(64):399 }
Bk.XVIII:141p25c,34.
] Particular[
] affections[
Corollary.— (25:7)
Individual things
are nothing but modifications
of
the attributes
of G-D, or modes
by which the attributes of G-D are
<
Bk.XV:26635;26313
on E1:V:47.
>; Bk.XVIII:92p25c,14713;
Bk.XX:23067.
expressed in a fixed and definite
manner. (25:8)
The proof appears
>
^ Bk.III:204
<
from Prop. xv. and Def. v.
1P28, 36;
2D1, 2P1, 5,
10C; 3P6;
5P36.
Spinoza's Pantheism
PROP. XXVI. Bk.III:204;Bk.XIV:1:385.
]determined[
A thing which is conditioned
to act
Satan
in a particular manner, has
necessarily
been thus conditioned by
G-D; and
that which has not been conditioned
by G-D cannot condition itself
to act.
Bk.XIV:1:385.
{ Analogy
- healthy living or unhealthy living.
} 1P28,
1P29.
Proof.— (26:1) That by which things are said to be conditioned to act
in a particular manner is necessarily something positive (this is obvi-
ous); therefore both of its essence
and of its existence G-D by the
Bk.XIX:13726.
necessity of his Nature
is the efficient cause (Props.
xxv. and xvi.);
this is our first point. (26:2) Our second point is plainly to be inferred
therefrom. (3) For if a thing, which has not been conditioned by G-D,
could condition itself, the first part of our proof would be false, and
this, as we have shown, is absurd.
]determined[
A thing, which has been conditioned
by G-D
to act in a particular way,
Calculus:6.2b
& c, Fig. 4.
cannot render itself unconditioned.
Bk.XIV:1:387—indeterminate.
Proof.— (27:1)
This proposition is evident from the third
axiom.
page 67
PROP. XXVIII. Bk.III:204;
Bk.XIV:1:389, 2:32; Bk.XVIII:112p28,
124p28,
3161p28;
Bk.XIX:2011.
< particular
> Knowing
G-D—Yirmiyahu Yovel—Stewart:177
Every individual thing,
or everything
{ a
mode }
] determined[
which is finite and
has a conditioned Knowing
G-D—Yirmiyahu Yovel
< Bk.XV:26736—E2:XLV(6)N:118.
>
existence, cannot exist
or be condi-
Spinoza's
Religion
Bk.XIV:1:3732,
2:2421.
tioned to act, unless it be conditioned
for existence and action by a
cause
Organic
Interdependence
other than itself, which also is finite,
and has a conditioned existence; and
likewise this cause cannot in its turn
exist, or be conditioned to act, unless
it be conditioned for existence
and
Chain
of Events
action by another cause, which
also
is finite,
and has a conditioned
existence,
and so on to infinity.
1P32;
2P9, 13L3,
30, 31, 48;
4P29; 5P6.
Bk.XIB:239122.
]determined[
Proof.— (28:1)
Whatsoever is conditioned
to exist and act, has been
thus conditioned by G-D (by Prop. xxvi. and Prop. xxiv. Coroll.)
(28:2) But that which is finite and has a conditioned existence, cannot
be produced by the absolute Nature
of any attribute of G-D; for what-
Bk.XIV:1:389,
3913.
soever follows from the absolute
Nature of any attribute of G-D is
infinite and eternal (by Prop. xxi). (28:3)
It must, therefore, follow from
some attribute of G-D, in so far as the said attribute is considered
as in some way modified;
for substance and modes make up the
]Cor.Pr.25
[
sum total of existence (by Ax. i.
and Def. iii., v.), while
modes are
] affections[
merely modifications of the
attributes of G-D. (28:4)
But from G-D, or
^ Bk.XIV:1:3931.
from any of his attributes,
in so far as the latter is modified by a
{universal
application}
]1P22
[
modification infinite and eternal, a conditioned
thing cannot follow.
(28:5) Wherefore it must follow from, or be conditioned for, existence
and action by G-D or one of his attributes, in so far as the latter are
modified by some modification which is finite and has a conditioned
existence. (28:6) This is our first point. (28:7) Again, this cause or this
modification (for the reason by which we established the first part of
this proof) must in its turn be conditioned by another cause, which
also is finite, and has a conditioned existence, and again, this last
by another (for the same reason); and so on (for the same reason)
to infinity. Q.E.D.
< Bk.XV:26737>]directly[
Note.— (28:8)
As certain things must
be produced immediately
by
< Bk.XV:26737—E2:XXI
& XXII:102. >
< Bk.XV:26633—Neff-L66(64):400,
E2:Ax.1:93. >
< Bk.XV:26634—Neff-L66(64):399,
E2:XIII(30)N2:96. >
G-D, namely those things which necessarily follow from his absolute
Nature, through the
means of these primary attributes, which, never-
[Latin
text corrupted—Bk.VIII:43359—Bk.XIV:1:390.]
theless, can neither exist nor be conceived without G-D,
it follows:—
{E1:Endnote
28:8} Bk.III:176;
Bk.XIV:1:2441.
1. (28:9)
That G-D is absolutely the proximate
cause of those things
immediately
produced by him. (28:10)
I say absolutely, not after
his kind, as
is usually stated. (28:11) For
the effects of G-D cannot
either
exist or be conceived without a cause
(Prop. xv. and
Prop.
xxiv., Coroll.).
page 68
Bk.III:157;
Bk.XIV:2:324,
2:1435.
2. (28:12)
That G-D cannot properly be styled
the remote
cause of
individual things, except for the sake
of distinguishing these
from what he immediately produces, or rather from what follows
from his absolute nature. (13)
For, by a remote cause, we under-
stand a cause which is in no
way conjoined to the effect.
^Bk.III:204.
(28:14) But
all things which are, are in G-D, and so depend
on
G-D, that without him they can neither
be nor be conceived.
PROP. XXIX. Bk.XVIII:121p29,
222p29,36—3p7,
3201p29;
Bk.XX:187.
{ EL:[44]:xxiv
}
]Nature
[
< E1:Bk.XV:26844
>
Nothing in the universe is contingent, JP:Wolfson:1:400—Determinism
< determined,
SCR:Bk.XV:xx-xxii.>
but all things are conditioned to exist
Bk.III:205;
Bk.XIB:250149.
and operate in a particular manner by
< E1:Bk.XV:26738.
TEI:[53]:19,
TEI:[12]:6. > E5:Wolfson:2:268
the necessity
of the Divine Nature.
G-D
sive Natura
1P32C2,
33; 2P31C, 44;
3P7; 5P6.
Proof.— (29:1)
Whatsoever is,
is in G-D (Prop. xv.).
(2) But
G-D cannot
be called a thing contingent. (3) For (by Prop. xi.) he exists necessar-
ily, and not contingently. (29:4) Further, the modes of the Divine Nature
follow therefrom necessarily, and not contingently
(Prop. xvi.); and
[by
1P21 ]
they thus follow, whether we consider the
Divine Nature
absolutely
Bk.XIV:1:3734.
or whether we consider it as in any
way conditioned to act (Prop.
xxvii.). (29:5) Further, G-D is not only the cause of these modes, in so
far as they simply exist (by Prop. xxiv.,
Coroll.), but also in so far as
] determined[
< doing anything. >
they are considered as conditioned for
operating in a particular man-
] action[
ner (Prop. xxvi.). (29:6)
If they be not conditioned by G-D (Prop.
xxvi.),
it is impossible, and not contingent, that they should condition them-
selves; contrariwise, if they be conditioned by G-D, it is impossible,
and not contingent that they should render themselves
uncondition-
ed. (29:7)
Wherefore all things are conditioned by the
necessity of the
Divine Nature, not
only to exist, but also to exist and operate in a
] definite
way [
] thus [
particular manner, and there is
nothing that is contingent.
Q.E.D.
Note.— (29:8)
Before going any further,
I wish here to explain, what
< E1:Bk.XV:26739—E1:XVII(5)C2:60
>;
Bk.III:206; Bk.XIB:230;Bk.XIV:1:3995;
Bk.XVIII:119p29s;
Bk.XX:24370.
we should understand by Nature
viewed as active (natura naturans),
Blake
McBride
]Bk.VII:2411
[
and nature viewed as passive
(natura naturata). (29:9)
I say to explain,
^ Bk.III:202.
or rather call attention to it, for I think that, from what
has been said,
it is sufficiently clear, that by Nature viewed as active we should
understand that which is in itself, and is conceived
through itself, or
{ knowable attributes—Extension
and Thought }
those attributes
of substance, which
express eternal and infinite
essence, in other words
(Prop. xiv.Cor. i., and Prop. xvii.Cor.
ii.) G-D,
Bk.XIV:1:2551.
in so far as he is considered as a free
cause. {Analogy—E1:Endnote
29:10}
page 69
naturata—Bk.XX:23171.
(29:10) By
nature ^
viewed as passive I understand all that
which follows
Bk.III:179;
Naturans.
from the necessity of the Nature
of G-D, or of any of the attributes
of
Bk.XIV:1:2553.
G-D, that is, all the modes
of the attributes of G-D, in so far as they
are considered as things
which are in G-D, and which without G-D
Bk.XIV:1:2554.
cannot exist or be conceived. {Analogy—E1:Endnote
29:10} 1P31.
PROP. XXX. Bk.III:206,
210; Bk.VII:526;
Bk.XIV:1:400-424; 2:461;Bk.XIX:1658.
< Bk.XV:26740—E1:XXXI(4)N:69,
actuality; E1:XXXIII(10)N2:73>
Intellect, in function (actu)
finite,
or in function infinite,
must com-
prehend the attributes of G-D
and
the modifications of
G-D, and
EL:Endnote
Dijn:211.
nothing else. 2P4.
E1:XIV(4)C2:55.
Bk.III:197,
80—TEI:L64(60):395
] ideate,
Bk.VII:2513—E2:XLVIII(9)
& XLIX:120[
Proof.— (30:1)
A true
idea must
agree with its object (Ax. vi.); in other
Bk.XIB:249.
words (obviously), that which is contained
in the intellect in repre-
] exist
[ Bk.III:207.
sentation must necessarily be granted in Nature.
(30:2) But
in Nature
Bk.XVIII:104p30d,
(by Prop. xiv.Coroll.
i.) there is no substance
save G-D, nor any
modifications save those (Prop. xv.) which are in G-D, and cannot
without G-D either be or be conceived.
(30:3) Therefore
the intellect,
<
actuality >
< actuality >
in function finite, or in function infinite,
must comprehend the attri-
] affections[
butes of G-D and the modifications
of G-D, and nothing else. Q.E.D.
PROP. XXXI. Bk.XVIII:119p31.
< actuality, E1:XXXI(4)N:69
>
The intellect in function, whether
[ like ]
^ Bk.III:206,
207.
finite or infinite, as will, desire,
love,
Durant:63983
[ must ]
]related [
etc., should be referred to passive
< E1:Bk.XV:26739—E1:XVII(5)C2:60
>
nature and not to
active Nature.
Bk.XIV:1:405.
{natura naturata}
{natura
naturans}
[ E1:Bk.VIII:43463
] { Cash
Value = E3:GN2n}
] understand [
Proof.— (31:1)
By the intellect we
do not (obviously) mean absolute
thought, but only a certain mode of thinking, differing from other
modes, such as love, desire, etc., and
therefore (Def. v.) requiring
Bk.XIX:11811;12017.
to be conceived through absolute thought. (31:2)
It must (by Prop. xv.
and Def. vi.), through some attribute of G-D which expresses the
eternal and infinite essence of thought, be so conceived,
that with-
Bk.III:206.
Bk.III:207.
out such attribute it
could neither be nor be conceived. (31:3)
It must
[ natura naturata
]
[ Natura Naturans ]
therefore be referred to nature passive
rather than to nature active,
[ P29S ]
Bk.XIX:12220.
as must also the other modes
of thinking. Q.E.D.
< Bk.XV:26741—E1:XXX:69
>
Bk.XIV:2:252.
< actuality >
Note.— (31:4)
I do not here, by speaking of intellect in function,
admit
Bk.XIV:1:2387;
2:461
^ Bk.III:206.
that there is such a thing as
intellect in potentiality: but, wishing to
avoid all confusion, I desire
to speak only of what is most clearly per-
Bk.XIV:1:4053,
:2:561.
< for
>
ceived by us, namely, of the very
act of understanding, than which
] understand [
nothing is more clearly perceived. (31:5)
For we cannot perceive any-
< which does not
lead to a greater knowledge of understanding.
>
thing without adding to our knowledge of the
act of understanding.
page 70
PROP. XXXII. Bk.III:206;
Bk.XIB:241126; Bk.XIII:6311—E1:VIII(25)N2:279; Bk.XVIII:3151p32.
[Bk.VIII:43564—E2:XLIX(10)C:121,
E2:XLVIII:119 ]
Bk.XIV:2:1705.
Proof.— (32:1)
Will is only a particular
mode of thinking, like
intellect;
Bk.XVIII:3301p32d.
] determined[
therefore (by Prop. xxviii.) no volition
can exist, nor be conditioned to
act, unless it be conditioned by some cause other than itself, which
cause is conditioned by a third cause, and so on to infinity.
(2) But
if
[Bk.VIII:43565—E1:XXVIII:67,
Bk.XIV:1:407]
will
be supposed infinite, it must
also be conditioned to exist and act
by G-D, not by virtue
of his being substance absolutely
infinite, but
Bk.XIV:1:1522.
by virtue of his possessing an attribute
which expresses the infinite
and eternal essence of thought (by Prop.
xxiii.). (32:3) Thus,
however
{ , the will,
}
it be conceived, whether as finite or infinite,
it requires a cause by
] determined[
[ by 1D7 ]
which it should be conditioned
to exist and act. (32:4)
Thus it
Bk.XIV:1:4074.
{ forced }
cannot be called a free cause, but only
a necessary or constrained
cause. Q.E.D. {FREE—G-D , as 100% °P, always (acting with adequate
knowledge. FORCED—G-d,
as <100% °P,
when acting with confused knowledge. }
Corollary. I.— (32:5)
Hence it follows, first,
that G-D does not act
Durant:63986
Bk.III:206;
Bk.XIV:1:4081.
according to freedom
of the will. < E1:Bk.XV:26738—E1:XXIX:68
> 1App;
2P3S.
Bk.III:203.
Corollary II.— (32:6)
It follows secondly, that will
and intellect stand in
< Bk.XV:26742—E2:XLIX(10)C:121,
E1:XXVIII(8)N:67
>
{Darwinian}
Bk.XIV:1:4082.
Hampshire:69-71
the same ^ relation to
the Nature of G-D
as do motion,
and rest, and
Wolfson:1:4032
< things
>
] determined[
absolutely all natural phenomena, which
must be conditioned by
] definite [
G-D (Prop. xxix.) to exist and act in
a particular manner. (32:7)
For will,
Mark
Twain
] determined[
like the rest, stands in need of a cause,
by which it is conditioned to
] definite [
exist and act in a particular manner. (32:8)
And although, when will or
] given [
intellect be granted, an infinite
number of results may follow, yet
G-D cannot on that account be said to act from freedom of the will,
any more than the infinite number of results from motion and rest
would justify us in saying that motion and rest act by free will.
(32:9)
Wherefore will no more appertains
to G-D than does anything
]natural
phenomena, [
else in nature, but stands
in the same relation to him as motion, rest,
and the like, which we have shown
to follow from the necessity of
] determined[
the Divine Nature,
and to be conditioned
by it to exist and act in a
] definite[
^ Bk.III:206.
particular manner. 2P3S.
PROP. XXXIII. Bk.III:205;
Bk.XIB:237108;
Bk.XIV:1:414; Bk.XIV:2:291;
Bk.XV:xxi; Bk.XVIII:119p33,122p33.
{ Reality
Curve }
TTP1:3:13—chain,
Bk.XIV:1:4141—produced.
Things could not have been brought
into Hampshire32:50,
53
being by G-D
in any manner or in any
Spinoza's Religion
order different from that which has in fact Stewart06:160
< been produced. E1:Bk.XV:26738.
>
Bk.XIV:1:409.
obtained.
{ Cash
Value =E3:GN2n
}
Proof.— (33:1) All things necessarily follow from the Nature of G-D
(Prop. xvi.), and by
the Nature of G-D are conditioned to exist and
] definite [
act in a particular way (Prop.
xxix). (33:2)
If things, page
71 therefore,
could have been of a different nature, or have been conditioned to
act in a different way, so that the order of nature would have been
different, G-D's Nature would also have been able to be different
from what it now is; and therefore (by Prop. xi.) that different nature
also would have
perforce existed, and consequently there would
Bk.XIX:10410,11.
have been able to
be two or more G-Ds. (33:3) This
(by Prop. xiv.,
Coroll. i.) is absurd. (33:4) Therefore things could not have been
brought into being
by G-D in any other manner , etc.
Q.E.D.
Note I.— (33:5)
As I have thus
shown, more clearly than the sun
at noonday, that there is
nothing to justify us in calling things
< E1:Bk.XV:26844
>
Bk.XIB:253.
contingent,
I wish to explain briefly what meaning
we shall attach
^Bk.XIV:1:1891.
to the word contingent; but I will
first explain the words necessary
Bk.III:229.
and impossible.
Bk.XVIII:120p33s1.
(33:6) A
thing is called necessary
either in respect to its essence or
in
respect to its cause; for the existence of a thing necessarily follows,
either from its essence and definition, or from a given efficient cause.
(33:7) For similar reasons a thing is said to be impossible; namely, in-
asmuch as its essence or definition involves a contradiction,
or be-
{ present }
] determined[
cause no external cause is granted, which is conditioned
to produce
such an effect; but a thing
can in no respect be called contingent,
Bk.XIV:1:1893,
3992—deficiency
in our intellect.
save in relation to the imperfection
of our knowledge.
E2:2P24-32.
^ Bk.XVIII:1221p33s1.
(33:8) A thing of which we do not know whether the essence does or
does not involve a contradiction, or of which knowing that it does
not involve a contradiction, we are still in doubt concerning the exist-
ence, because the order of causes escapes us,—such a thing, I say,
cannot appear to us either necessary or impossible. (33:9)
Wherefore
Bk.III:151
we call it contingent or
possible. 2P31C;
4D4, P11.
Note II.— (33:10)
It clearly follows from what we have said,
that things
have been brought into being by G-D in the highest perfection, inas-
much as they have necessarily followed from a most perfect
Nature.
Bk.III:207.
(33:11)
Nor does this prove any
imperfection in G-D, for it has com-
pelled us to affirm his perfection. (33:12) From its contrary proposition,
we should clearly gather (as I have just shown), that G-D is not
supremely perfect, for if things had been brought into being in any
other way, we should have to assign to G-D a nature different from
that, which we are bound to attribute to him from the consideration
of an absolutely perfect being.
page 72
[ reject ]
Bk.XVIII:3161p33s2.
(33:13) I
do not doubt, that many will scout this idea
as absurd, and will
] examining [
refuse to give their minds
up to contemplating it, simply because
Bk.III:207.
they are accustomed to assign to God
a freedom very different from
that which we (Def. vii.) have
deduced. (33:14) They
assign to him, in
< Bk.XV:26845—Miracles
>
short, absolute freewill.
(33:15)
However, I am also convinced that if
such persons reflect on the matter,
and duly weigh in their minds
] proofs [
our series of propositions, they will reject such freedom
as they now
] nonsensical [ <
futile >
attribute to God, not only as nugatory, but also as a great
impediment
]science
{Darwinism}[
to organized knowledge.
(33:16) There
is no need for me to repeat what
Bk.III:203
^
{ Cor. 2 }
I said in the note to Prop.
xvii. (17) But,
for the sake of my opponents,
I will show further, that although it be granted
that will appertains to
Bk.XVIII:116p33s2.
the essence of G-D,
it nevertheless follows from his perfection,
that
things could not have been by him created other than they are, or in
a different order; this is easily proved, if we reflect on what our
opponents themselves concede, namely, that it depends solely on
the decree and will of G-D, that each thing is what it is. (18) If it were
otherwise, G-D would not be the cause of all things. (19)
Further, that
< E1:XIX(5)N:63
>
all the decrees
of G-D have been ratified from all eternity
by G-D
himself. (33:20)
If it were otherwise, G-D would be
convicted of imper-
] inconstancy [
fection or change. (33:21)
But in eternity there
is no such thing as when,
< Bk.XV:26532
on E1:XIX(5)N:63
>
before, or after;
hence it follows solely from the perfection
of G-D,
^Bk.XIV:1:4133;
Bk.XVIII:2051p33s2.
that G-D never can decree, or never could
have decreed anything
but what is; that G-D did not exist before his decrees, and would not
exist without them. (33:22) But, it is said, supposing that G-D had made
a different universe, or had ordained other
decrees from all eternity
Bk.XIV:1:4145.
concerning Nature
and her order, we could not therefore conclude
any imperfection in G-D. (33:23) But persons who say this must admit
that G-D can change his decrees. (33:24) For if G-D had ordained any
decrees concerning Nature and her order, different from those which
he has ordained—in
other words, if he had willed and conceived
] necessarily [
something different concerning Nature—he
would perforce have had
a different intellect from that which he has, and also a different will.
(33:25) But if it were allowable to assign to G-D a different intellect and
a different will, without any change in his essence or his perfection,
what would there be to prevent him changing the decrees which he
has made concerning created things,
and nevertheless page 73
re-
Bk.XVIII:123p33s2.
maining perfect? (33:26)
For his intellect and
will concerning things
created and their order are the same, in respect to his essence and
perfection, however they be conceived.
< concede >
(33:27) Further,
all the philosophers whom I have read admit that G-D's
< Bk.XV:26846.
BK.XV:26740—E1:XXX:60
>
{E1:XXX:69
}
] Bk.VII:526
[
intellect is entirely actual,
and not at all potential; as they also admit
that G-D's intellect, and G-D's will, and G-D's essence are identical,
it follows that, if G-D had had a different actual intellect and a differ-
ent will, his essence
would also have been different; and thus, as I
] deduced[
concluded at first, if things had been brought into being
by G-D in a
different way from that which has obtained, G-D's intellect and—will,
that is (as is admitted) his essence would perforce have been differ-
ent, which is absurd.
(33:28) As these things could not have been brought into being by G-D
in any but the actual way and order which has obtained; and as the
truth of this proposition follows from the supreme perfection of G-D;
we can have no sound reason for persuading ourselves to believe
that G-D did not wish to create all the things which were in his intel-
lect, and to create them in the same perfection as he had under-
stood them.
(33:29) But, it will be said, there is in things no perfection nor imperfect-
ion; that which is in them, and which causes them to be called per- Ferguson
fect or imperfect, good
or bad, depends solely on the will of G-D.
]Accordingly,
[
(33:30) If
G-D had so willed, he might have brought it about that what
is now perfection should be extreme imperfection, and vice versa.
(33:31) What is such an assertion, but an open declaration that G-D,
who necessarily understands that which he wishes, might bring it
about by his will, that he should understand things differently from
the way in which he does understand them? (33:32) This (as we have
just shown) is the height of absurdity. (33) Wherefore, I may turn the
argument against its employers, as follows:—All things depend on
the power of G-D. (33:34) In order that things should be different from
what they are,
G-D's will would necessarily have to be different.
{Metaphor}
(33:35) But
G-D's will cannot be different (as we have just most clearly
demonstrated) from G-D's
perfection. (33:36) Therefore
neither can
{ hypothesis,
religion }
things be different. (33:37)
I confess that the theory
which subjects all
{ Calculus:4.4,
E3:GN(2)n }
things to the will
of an indifferent deity,
and asserts that they are
all dependent on His fiat, page 74 is less far from the truth than the
theory of those, who maintain that
G-D acts in all things with a view
<
furthering.Bk.XV:26847
>
{
for man; but
for the multitude, has more Cash
Value }.
of promoting
what is good
^ (33:38)
For these latter persons seem to
Ferguson
] posit[
] external to [
set up something beyond God, which does not depend
on G-D, but
] a model
[
which G-D in acting, looks to as an
exemplar, or which he aims at as
]fixed
target[, {final
causes}
a definite goal. (33:39)
This is only another name for subjecting G-D to
[ fate ]
the dominion of destiny, an utter absurdity
in respect to G-D, whom
we have shown to be the first and only free cause of the essence of
all things and also of their existence. (33:40) I need, therefore, spend
no time in refuting such wild theories. <
Bk.XV:26847
>
PROP. XXXIV. Bk.III:197,
206; Bk.XV:26848—E2:III(4)N:84,
278112—E3:VII:136;
Bk.XVIII:141p25c,34,
74p34—p11d3,119p34.
Proof.— (34:1)
From the sole necessity
of the essence of G-D it
< E1:Def.I:45
- E1:Bk.XV:2602>
follows that G-D is the cause
of himself (Prop. xi.)
and of all things
Conceived
thru itself.
(Prop. xvi. and Coroll.).
(34:2) Wherefore
the power of G-D, by which
{immanently
}
he and ^ all things are and act, is identical with his essence.
Q.E.D
PROP. XXXV. Bk.XIB:248; Bk.XVIII:119p35d;1311p35.
Proof.— (35:1) Whatsoever is in G-D's power, must (by the last Prop.)
be comprehended in his essence in such a manner, that it neces-
sarily follows therefrom, and
therefore necessarily exists. Q.E.D.
PROP. XXXVI. Bk.XVIII:1201p36d,
1341p36,
1861p36,
222p29,36—3p7.
]
Nothing exists
[
There is no cause
from whose
nature some
effect does not
Bk.XIV:1:423.
follow.
2P13; 3P1,
7; 5P4S.
<------- small print,
Logical Index.
> connatus—Bk.III:204,205
<
Proof.— (36:1)
Whatsoever exists expresses G-D's
Nature or essence
] determinate[;
Bk.XIX:143,b.
in a given conditioned manner (by Prop.
xxv., Coroll.); that is (by
Bk.XIX:143,b.
Prop. xxxiv.), whatsoever
exists, expresses in a given conditioned
Bk.XIX:9223.
manner G-D's
power, which is the cause of all things, therefore an
effect must (by Prop. xvi.) necessarily
follow. Q.E.D.
Bk.XIV:1:425-440.
Bk.III:206,
211.
Bk.XV:xix.
APPENDIX.— (AP:1)
In the foregoing I have explained the Nature
Bk. XIV:1:400-1
and properties of G-D. (AP:2) I have shown that he necessarily exists, term 'G-D'
that he is one: that he is, and acts solely by the necessity of his own
nature; that he is the free cause of all things, and how he is so; that
all things are
in G-D, and so depend on him, that
without him they
Logos - 1 John 1.1
Bk.III:207.
could neither exist nor be
conceived; lastly, that all
things are
{determinism}
Bk.XIB:241125.
predetermined by G-D, not through
his free will or
absolute fiat,
but from the very Nature of G-D
or infinite power. (AP:3)
I page
75 have
< E1:Bk.XV:26849,
TEI:[45]:16
>
further, where occasion offered, taken care to remove the
prejudices,
G-d
at <100% °P
] proofs [
which might impede the
comprehension of my demonstrations.
^
4P37S2.
] prejudices[
(AP:4) Yet
there still remain misconceptions not a few, which might and
Added by JBY
Bk.III:206,
211 ^.
] acceptance [
may prove very grave
hindrances to the understanding
of the
succession—Bk.XIV:2:122.
concatenation of things, as I
have explained it above. (AP:5)
I have
] prejudices [
therefore thought it worth while to bring these misconceptions
before
[ scrutiny]
the bar of reason.
4Pref:12.
] prejudices[
Bk.III:207.
(AP:6) All
such opinions spring from the notion commonly entertained,
that all things in Nature
act as men themselves act, namely, with an
Durant:64088
{ final
causes }, Bk.VIII:44071—Bk.XIV:1:422-
440; Bk.XVIII:2131App;
Bk.XX:23272.
Hall:TB2:146
end in view. (AP:7)
It is accepted as certain, that God
himself directs
Ends,
Einstein
Bk.XX:23272.
Hampshire:147—only
purpose
things to a definite goal (for it
is said that God made all things for
Durant:641—purpose
man, and man that he might worship
him). (AP:8) I
will, therefore, con-
<
Bk.XV:26850
>
[ I ]
sider this opinion, asking first
why it obtains general credence, and
[ II ]
why all men are naturally so prone to adopt it?
secondly, I will point
[ III ]
out its falsity; and, lastly,
I will show how it has given
rise to
Ferguson
Stace:125,
Robinson3:63.
prejudices
about good and bad, right
and wrong, praise and
blame,
Mark Twain, Nagel:274.
{harmony
and chaos }
order and confusion, beauty
and ugliness, and the like.
[ I]
(AP:9)
However, this is not
the place to deduce these misconceptions
from the nature of the human mind: it will be sufficient here, if I assume
as a starting point, what ought to be universally admitted, namely, that
all men are born ignorant of the causes of things, that all have the
desire to
seek for what is useful
to them, and that they are con-
2P48:5S.
scious of such desire. (AP:10)
Herefrom it follows first, that men think
themselves free, inasmuch as they are conscious of their volitions
and desires, and never even dream, in their ignorance, of the Mark Twain
causes which have disposed them to wish and desire. (11) Secondly,
that men do all things for an end, namely, for that which is useful to
them, and which they seek. (12) Thus it comes to pass that they only
look for a knowledge of the final causes of events, and when these
are learned, they are content, as having no cause for
further doubt.
Technological
(AP:13)
If they cannot learn such causes
from external sources, they
2P16C2.
are compelled to turn to considering themselves, and reflecting
what
end would have
induced them personally to bring about the given
] minds [
event , and thus they necessarily judge other
natures by their own.
(AP:14) Further, as they find in themselves and outside themselves
many means which assist them not page 76 a little in their search for
what is useful, for instance, eyes for seeing, teeth for chewing, Darwin
herbs and animals for yielding food, the sun for giving light, the sea
for breeding fish, etc., they come to look on the
whole of Nature as
] advantages [
a means for obtaining such conveniences.
(AP:15) Now
as they are
aware, that they found these conveniences and did not make them
they think they have cause for believing, that some other being has
made them for their use. (AP:16) As they look upon things as means,
they cannot believe them to be self-created; but, judging from the
means which they are accustomed to prepare for themselves,
they
] Nature[
are bound to believe in
some ruler or rulers of the universe endowed
Transcendent
with human freedom, who have arranged and adapted everything
for human use. (AP:17) They are bound to estimate the nature of such
rulers (having no information on the subject) in accordance with
their own nature, and therefore they assert that the gods ordained
everything for the use of man, in order to bind man to themselves
and obtain from him the highest honors. (AP:18) Hence also it follows,
that everyone thought out for himself,
according to his abilities, a
Bk.XX:13143.
different way of worshipping God,
so that God might love him more
Religion
than his fellows, and direct the whole course of
Nature for the satis-
] greed [
faction of his blind cupidity and insatiable
avarice. (AP:19)
Thus the pre-
judice developed
into superstition, and took deep root in
the human
Bk.XX:23273.
mind; and for this reason everyone strove most
zealously to under-
stand and explain the final causes
of things; but in their endeavor to
< Bk.XV:26851
>
show that Nature does nothing in vain,
i.e., nothing which is useless
to man, they only seem to have demonstrated that Nature,
the gods,
] are
as crazy as mankind. [
and men are all mad together. (AP:20)
Consider, I pray you, the result:
among the many helps of
Nature they were bound to find some
] disasters[
hindrances, such as storms, earthquakes,
diseases, etc.: so they
Perfect
and Imperfect
declared that such things happen, because the gods are angry at
some wrong done them by men, or at some fault committed
in their
worship. (AP:21)
Experience day by day
protested and showed by
Bk.XVIII:2841App.
infinite examples, that good
and evil fortunes fall to the lot of pious
] ingrained [
and impious alike; still they
would not abandon their inveterate
prejudice, for it
was more easy for them to class such contradictions
]mysteries [
among other unknown things of whose use they were ignorant,
and
] present [
thus to retain page
77 their actual
and innate condition of ignorance,
] theory
{religion}
[
than to destroy the whole fabric of their reasoning
and start afresh.
(AP:22) They therefore laid down as an axiom, that God's judgments
far transcend human understanding.
(AP:23)
Such a doctrine might well
Bk.III:129app—escape
have sufficed to
conceal the truth from the human
race for all
Bk.XIB:240.
< Bk.XV:26952
>
eternity, if mathematics
had not furnished another standard of verity
in considering solely the essence and properties of figures without
regard to their final causes. (AP:24) There are other reasons (which I
need not mention here) besides
mathematics, which might have
[ Bk.VIII:44174—TTP1:P(28):7.
]
] misconceptions [
caused men's minds to be directed
to these general prejudices,
and
[ things ]
have led them to the knowledge
of the truth.
[ II]
(AP:25) I
have now sufficiently explained my first point.
(AP:26) There
is no
need to show at length, that Nature has no particular goal in view, Hall:TB2:146
and that final causes are mere human figments. (AP:27) This, I think, is Only purpose
already evident enough, both from the causes and foundations on
which I have shown such prejudice to be based, and also from
Prop. xvi., and the Corollary of Prop. xxxii., and, in fact, all those
propositions in which I have shown, that everything in Nature pro-
ceeds from a sort of necessity, and with the utmost perfection. Calculus:6.2b & c
(AP:28) However, I will add a few remarks, in order to overthrow this
doctrine of a final cause utterly. (AP:29) That which is really a cause it
considers as an effect, and vice versa: it makes that which is by
nature first to be last, and that which is highest
and most perfect to
be most imperfect. (AP:30)
Passing over the questions of cause
and
{ E1:Endnote
28:8 }
priority as self-evident, it is plain from Props.
xxi., xxii., xxiii. that that
< Bk.XV:
26737,33,34 >
effect, is most perfect which is produced
immediately by G-D;
the
^ Bk.XIV:1:2442.
effect which requires for its production several intermediate
causes
is, in that respect, more imperfect (AP:31) But if those things which
were made immediately by God were made to enable him to attain
his end, then the things which come after, for the sake of which the
first were made, are necessarily the most excellent of
all.
(AP:32) Further,
this doctrine does away with the perfection of G-D: for,
< end
>
if G-D acts for an object,
he necessarily desires something which
he
lacks. (33)
Certainly, theologians and metaphysicians draw
a distinc-
] Bk.VII:598[,
< Bk.XV:26953
>
[ end. Bk.VIII:44275—Bk.XIV:1:432.
]
tion between the object of want and the object
of assimilation; still
they confess that God made all things for the sake of himself, not for
the page
78 sake of
creation. (AP:34)
They are unable to point to any-
] as a purpose of God's action. [
thing prior to creation, except God
himself, as an object for which
God should act, and are therefore driven to admit (as they clearly
must), that God lacked those things for whose attainment he
created means, and further that he desired them.
{final
causes}
(AP:35)
We must not omit to notice
that the followers of this doctrine,
anxious to display their talent in assigning final causes, have import-
ed a new method of argument in proof of their theory—namely,
a re-
Bk.XIV:1:4342.
duction, not to the impossible, but to ignorance;
thus showing that
they have no other method of
exhibiting their doctrine. (AP:36)
For
Bk.XIV:1:4341.
example, if a stone falls from a roof on to some one's
head and kills
him, they will demonstrate by their new method, that the stone fell in
order to kill the man; for, if it had not by God's will fallen with that
object, how could so many circumstances (and there are
often many
{we
call our "ignorance"
chance. }
concurrent circumstances) have all happened
together by chance?
Bk.XIX:1476—EL:L42(37):360^
(AP:37)
Perhaps you will answer that the event
is due to the facts that
the wind was blowing, and the man was walking that way. (AP:38) "But
why," they will insist, "was the wind
blowing, and why was the man
at that very time walking that way?" (AP:38a)
If you again answer, that
the wind had then sprung up because the sea had begun to be
agitated the day before, the weather being previously calm, and that
the man had been invited by a friend, they will again insist: "But why
was the sea agitated, and
why was the man invited at that time?"
(AP:39)
So they will pursue their questions from
cause to cause, till at
Bk.XX:23374;
Bk.XIV:1:4342—refuge.
last you take refuge in the will
of God—in other words, the sanctuary
of ignorance. (AP:40) So, again, when they survey the frame of the
human body, they are amazed; and being ignorant of the causes of
so great a work of art conclude that it has been fashioned, not
mechanically, but by divine and supernatural skill, and has been so
put together that one part shall not hurt another.
[ Bk.VIII:44376—Bk.XIV:1:434-436. ]
< E1:Bk.XV:26954—TTP2:Ch.VI:81
>
(AP:41) Hence
anyone who seeks for the true causes of miracles,
and
] a scholar
[
strives to understand natural phenomena
as an intelligent being,
and not to gaze at them like a fool, is set down and denounced as
an impious heretic by those, whom the masses adore as the inter-
preters of Nature and the gods.
(AP:42) Such
persons know that, with
[ Bk.VIII:44377—TTP2:7(176):116.
]
the removal of ignorance, the
page 79
wonder which forms their
only
available means for proving and
preserving their authority would
Bk.XX:233.
vanish also. (AP:43)
But I now quit this subject,
and pass on to my
third point.
[ III]
(AP:44)
After men persuaded themselves,
that everything which is
created is created for their sake, they were bound to consider as the
chief quality in everything that which is most useful to themselves,
and to account those things the best of all which have the most
beneficial effect on mankind. (AP:45)Further, they were bound to form
abstract notions for the explanation of the nature of things, such as
goodness, badness, order, confusion,
warmth, cold, beauty,
deform- {Calculus:Fig.1(a)
-
Bk.III:261.
All
subjective terms.}
ity, and so on; and
from the belief that they are free
agents arose
]right[
]wrong[
the further notions praise
and blame, sin
and merit.
Mark
Twain
Bk.XIV:1:4392—Bk.VIII:86[6],
87[8]. ^
Bk.XVIII:2891App,
3441App.
(AP:46) I will speak of these latter hereafter, when I treat of human
nature; the former
I will briefly explain here.
(AP:47)
Everything which conduces to health
and the worship of God
Bk.XIV:2:2233.
they have called good,
everything which hinders these objects they
Ferguson
have styled bad; and inasmuch as those who do not understand the
nature of things do not verify
phenomena in any way, but merely
] E1:Bk.VII:2720
[
imagine them after a fashion,
and mistake their imagination
for
] intellect—E1:Bk.VII:609
[
understanding, such persons firmly believe that there
is an order in
things, being really ignorant both of things and their own nature.
(AP:48) When phenomena are of such a kind, that the impression they
make on our senses requires little effort of imagination, and can
consequently be easily remembered, we say that they are well-
ordered; if the contrary, that they are ill-ordered or confused.
(AP:49) Further, as things which are easily imagined are more pleasing
to us, men prefer order to confusion, as though there were any
order in Nature, except in relation to our imagination, and say that
God has created all things in order; thus, without knowing it, attri-
buting imagination to God, unless, indeed, they would have it that
God foresaw human imagination, and arranged everything, so that
it should be most easily imagined. (AP:50) If this be their theory they
would not, perhaps, be daunted by the fact that we find an infinite
number of phenomena, far surpassing our imagination, and very
many others which confound its weakness.
(AP:51)
But enough has
] E1:Bk.VII:609
[
been said on this subject. (AP:52)
The other abstract
notions are
Bk.XVIII:101App,
1801App.
nothing but modes
of imagining, in which
the imagination
is differ-
ently affected, page 80 though they are considered by the ignorant
as the chief attributes of things, inasmuch as they believe that
everything was created for the sake
of themselves; and, according
Bk.XIB:5238
as they are affected by it, style it good
or bad, healthy or rotten and
Ferguson
corrupt. (AP:53)
For instance, if the motion whose objects we
see com-
{Joy}
municate to our nerves be conducive to health, the objects
causing
Bk.III:21027—E1:Bk.VII:609
it are styled
beautiful; if a contrary
motion be excited, they are
Durant:64191
styled ugly.
(AP:54) Things which are perceived through our sense of smell are
styled fragrant or fetid; it through our taste, sweet or bitter, full-fla-
vored or insipid, if through our touch, hard or soft, rough or smooth,
etc.
(AP:55) Whatsoever
affects our ears is said to give rise to noise, sound,
or harmony. (AP:56) In this last case, there are men lunatic enough to
believe that even God himself takes pleasure in harmony; and phil-
osophers are not lacking who have persuaded themselves, that the
motion of the heavenly bodies gives rise to harmony—all of which
instances sufficiently show that everyone judges of things accord-
ing to the state of his brain, or rather mistakes for things the forms
of his imagination. (AP:57) We need no longer wonder that there have
arisen all the controversies we have witnessed and finally skeptic-
ism: for, although human bodies in many respects agree, yet in very
many others they differ; so that what seems good to one seems
bad to another; what seems well ordered to one seems confused to
another; what is pleasing to one displeases another, and so on.
(AP:58) I need not further enumerate, because this is not the place to
treat the subject at length, and also because
the fact is sufficiently
] opinions [
well known. (59)It
is commonly said: "So many men, so many minds;
] sight [
everyone is wise in his own
way; brains differ as completely as
] clearly [
palates." (AP:60)All
of which proverbs show, that men judge
of things
according to their mental disposition, and rather imagine than under-
stand: for, if they understood phenomena, they would, as mathe-
matics attest, be
convinced, if not attracted, by what I have urged.
(AP:61)
We have now perceived,
that all the explanations commonly
given of nature are mere modes of imagining, and do not indicate
the true Nature of anything, but only the constitution of the imagi-
nation; and, although they have names, as though they
were entities,
]E2:Bk.VII:2720
[
existing externally to pg.
81 the imagination, I
call them entities imaginary
<Bk.XV:26955—TE1:[95]:35.
Bk.XV:26424
on E1:XV(43):58,
Bk.XV:27166
on E2:VII(7)N:87.
>
rather than real; and, therefore,
all arguments against us drawn from
such abstractions
are easily rebutted.
] as follows [
(AP:62) Many
argue in this way. (63)If
all things follow from a necessity
of the absolutely perfect Nature of G-D, why are there so many im-
perfections in nature? such, for instance, as things corrupt to the
point of putridity, loathsome
deformity, confusion, evil, sin, etc.
] refuted [
(AP:64)
But these reasoners are, as I have
said, easily confuted, for
the perfection of things is to be reckoned only from their own nature
and power; things are not more or less perfect, according as they
delight or offend human senses, or according
as they are service-
Bk.XIV:1:4383.
able or repugnant to mankind. (AP:65)
To those who ask why God did
not so create all men, that they should be governed only by reason,
I give no answer but this: because matter was not lacking to him for
the creation of every degree of perfection from highest to lowest;
or, more strictly, because the laws of his Nature are so vast, as to
suffice for the production of
everything conceivable by an infinite
Bk.XIV:1:4402.
Bk.XIB:8560.
intelligence, as I have shown in Prop. xvi.
[prejudices]
(AP:66) Such
are the misconceptions I have undertaken
to note; if
] correct [
there are any more of the same sort, everyone may easily
dissipate
them for himself with the aid of a little reflection. 4P37S2. <------- small print, Logical Index.
End of Part I of V.
E1:Endnote Definition - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:2601—G:Notes
1 & 2, I:1.25c.
"Spinoza's definitions
are of the kind now commonly
called
'stipulative'; that
is, they tell the reader how Spinoza proposes to use
certain words. Spinoza
is not concerned (as a dictionary
is concerned) {not
x = x, a synonym
to describe
the standard uses of words.
His purpose, as he observes
joy = happiness
in the Ethics (E3:
Def. XX. Expl.) is to explain, not the meaning of words,
i.e., an identity;
but
but the nature
of things. One may compare what
is done by scientists,
x = y, an hypothesis
when they introduce
new technical terms, or give old
words a new
y = posited cause.
sense, with a view to explaining what
it is that interests them. For
Spin- Examples:
Joy, Love,
oza's views about definition, cf. TEI:[95-8].
{Euclidean,
Calculus }
Religion,
Idolatry.}
E1:Endnote Note 10 - From De Dijn's Bk.III:200—Unified
Nature.
The presence of the idea
of G-D as an absolutely infinite being is
{an
indispensable or essential condition}
a conditio sine
qua non for this concept of a unified
nature. Spinoza
does not feel compelled
to argue for the presence of this
idea in us: Deus
siveNatura
does not everybody
accept this notion of G-D?
In E2: 45, 46,
& 47,
he will demonstrate
how this {common}
notion
is of necessity
present
in every human mind.
E1:Endnote Def. I - From Parkinson's Bk.XV:2602—G:Immanent
"In the phrase, 'or,
that of which'
the word 'or' renders the
Latin 'sive';
this may be called the 'alternative or', and rendered more
Deus
clearly as 'or,
in other words'. When Spinoza wants to say 'Either the
one, or the
other' he uses the words 'aut' or 'vel'. Where
the word 'or'
renders 'sive'
(or its equivalent, 'seu'); I usually indicate this by placing
a comma after
'or'; however, for stylistic reasons I sometimes render
such Latin terms by 'i.e.'.
To modern readers, the notion of a
'cause of itself' may seem
{Conceived
strange, and indeed self-contradictory.
We tend to think of a cause as
through
itself}
preceding
its effect in time, from which
it would follow that a ‘cause of
itself' must exist before
it exists. However, it later becomes clear in the
Ethics {TTP1}
that Spinoza does not think of causes in this way;
rather, he
E2:Wolfson:2:110
thinks of the relation
between cause and effect as logical
{inseparable},
not temporal.
For him, the cause of X is the reason for X, in the sense
in which a
triangle's being isosceles is the reason
for its base angles
being equal.
This doctrine is encapsulated in his phrase "cause
seu
ratio' (cause,
or, reason: E1:XI(4):51);
see also E1:Bk.XV:26425onE1:XVI(3):59
and its corollaries.
In effect, then, a 'cause of itself' is
that whose
causa
sui
existence is self-explanatory.
Parkinson's E1:Bk.XV:26425:
Corollaries 1-3 depend on the so-called
'rationalist' theory of causality:
that is, on the view that 'X is the cause
of Y' means 'Y follows logically
from X'. This dependence can
be seen
by comparing the
corollaries with 1P16. In that proposition,
we are
told only that "infinite
things must follow from G-D;
then, in the corol-
laries, Spinoza explains that
to say this, is to talk about G-D as a cause.
E1:Endnote Def. III - From Joseph Kupfer's
"Art of Religious Communication" taken from
"Philosophy: Contemporary Perspectives on Perennial Issues";
ISBN: 0312084781;
Page 311—Existence/Substance:
The existence {Substance} of things is different from other aspects of them. It is more fundamental. The shape, weight, or color of something presupposes that it exists.Existence is not just one more quality that an entity may possess. For a thing to possess shape, weight, or color, it must exist. Existence {Substance} is the fundamental fact upon which all others depend. This is what Kant means when he claims that existence is not a "predicate" or attribute. About our new dog, we might say, "By the way, it's a black dog." But we wouldn't say, "By the way, it exists" (unless perhaps we were in the habit of talking about imaginary dogs). Any particular predicate or quality of a thing, such as its color, is but one fact among many. But the thing must exist, must be, for it to possess any quality whatsoever. Whether a dog is black or yellow, it still exists. And unless it exists, it cannot be black or yellow.
E1:Endnote Def. IV - From Wolfson's Bk.XIV:1:1342—Talmud:
"It was, however, generally agreed that attributes could not be taken in a sense which would imply plurality in the divine essenceor a similarity between G-D and His creatures. It was therefore commonly recognized that attributes are not to be taken in their literal sense {with Spinoza's philosophy, attributes could be taken literally}. The Talmudic saying that "the Torah speaks according to the language of men" is quoted in this connection by the mediaeval Jewish philosophers. Spinoza repeats it in his statement that "the Scripture . . . continually speaks after the fashion of men" {L32(19):331[8]}. How these attributes could be interpreted so as not to contravene the absolute simplicity and uniqueness of G-D constituted the problem of divine attributes with which all the mediaeval Jewish philosophers had to grapple.
{From The Jewish Virtual Library—Talmud and Miracles.
The spirit of the Talmudic process is expressed in a tale in tractate Baba Meziah. Rabbi Eliezer, a proponent of unchanging tradition—"a well-lined cistern that doesn't lose a drop," as his teacher characterized him—was engaged in a legal disputation with his colleagues. "He brought all the reasons in the world," but the majority would not accept his view. Said Rabbi Eliezer, "If the law is as I hold it to be, let this tree prove it," and the tree uprooted itself a hundred amma, but they said, "Proof cannot be brought from a tree." Rabbi Eliezer persisted, saying, "Let these waters determine it," and the waters began to flow backwards, but his colleagues responded that waters cannot determine the law. Once again Rabbi Eliezer tried, asking the walls of the study house to support him. They began to totter, whereupon the spokesman for the majority, Rabbi Joshua, admonished them, "when rabbis are engaged in legal discussion what right have ye to interfere!" So the walls did not fall in respect for Rabbi Joshua, nor did they return to their upright position, in respect for Rabbi Eliezer—and "they remain thus to this day!" But Rabbi Eliezer would not surrender and cried out: "Let Heaven decide." A voice was heard from Heaven saying: "Why do ye dispute with Rabbi Eliezer; the law is always as he says it to be." Whereupon Rabbi Joshua arose and proclaimed, quoting Scripture, "It is not in Heaven!" Rabbi Jeremiah explained, "The Law was given at Sinai and we no longer give heed to heavenly voices, for in that Law it is stated: 'One follows the majority."'God's truth, divine law, is not determined by miracles or heavenly voices, but by the collegium of rabbis, men learned in the law,committed to the law and expert in its application to the life of the pious community.} Scientific Method.
E1:Endnote Def. VI - From Paul
Wienpahl's "The Radical Spinoza"; 0814791867;
p. 49—
Being,
Mysticism, Soul,
Conciousness all are processes;
verbs not nouns.
Spinoza's "Grammar of the Hebrew
Language" calls attention to another
fact about that language
which is of surpassing importance for understanding Spinoza. This is that
all the words in the language
(with a few exceptions made by later grammarians) were
originally verbs. Thus all the
words whether or not they are still used as verbs contain the verbal
idea.
{Example:
A boy is a male thing growing
to the zenith of his powers; An old man is a male thing declining
from the zenith of his powers. Cash
Value of thinking this way: Study
how to help the boy achieve
his highest possible
zenith; Study how to help the old man
slow the decline.
Studies include the medical, neurological,
social, economic,ecological,
and all the other sciences. The help provided
is not altruism; see Mark Twain's story
of the quarter. More,
the one helped may find the cure for cancer, saving you or a loved
one. We are all bound into an organic
interdependency.}
Thus, to be brief, when Spinoza uses
the word "Being"
as a name {better,
as a title}
for G-D (and he often does, regarding
it as the proper name for G-D),
the word has the verbal sense {a
process},
not the nominal {a
noun}.
It is not used as in "a being"
or an entity but in the sense of "a state or act of being,"
or a way of doing something: living, say. It might
be said that Spinoza's is a philosophy
of change.
Reality for him is active, not static or unchanging.
E1:Endnote Def. VI—From The Teaching Company's Tapes; The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition; 2004; Professor Daniel N. Robinson's Lecture 51; Part 5 Transcript, p. 40; Ontology - What There "Really" Is—Being:
In Book IV of his Metaphysics, Aristotle begins Part I with these words:
There is a science which investigates being as being and
{Infinite
and finite} attributes
which belong to this in virtue
of its own nature. This is not the same
as any of the so-called special
sciences, for none of these treats universally of being
as being.
{Infinite
is G-D, substance;
and finite is G-d,
a mode.}
E1:Endnote Def. VI—From Tape 1 - Lecture 4:TB1:47—Being is a Title not a Name:
We're going to use the word "god" more as a title than as a name. We have a president in the United States, Mr. Bush. Bush is his name; President is his title. In certain religious traditions there is a great deal of talk about a particular being, force, entity, power or whatnot, whose name perhaps in one setting is El Shaddai, in another setting is Yahweh, and in another setting may be any number of others: Cloven Bullfoot. All of the people using these names for that entity are referring to that entity as "God, "and to say that Yahweh is God is to say that Yahweh bears a certain title and in bearing that title has certain characteristics that make the title appropriate and fitting.
E1:Endnote Def. VI - From Wolfson's Bk.XIV:1:158—G:Immanent continued.
The first
ten propositions of the Ethics, which
precede Spinoza's proofs
of the existence
of G-D, are a challenge to mediaeval philosophers.
The starting point is the definition
of G-D {Foundation
Rock: 1D6
= ONE},
placed
by Spinoza near the
beginning of his
work, which, as we have already
shown, is an exact reproduction
of a definition found in a standard work
of a popular mediaeval
Jewish philosopher
{Joseph
Albo's "Book of Principles"}.
Spinoza seems to address his
imaginary opponents as follows:
All you mediaevals,
to whatever school of thought you may belong, have
builded your philosophies on
the conception of a God epitomized by you
in a formal definition which
contains four characteristic expressions.
You say that God
is: E5:Bk.I:317—"Letter
on the Infinite.".
(I) An ens
in the highest sense of the term, by which you mean
that He is a being who exists
necessarily.
(2) You also say that
He is "absolutely infinite," by which you
mean that;
(3) He is "a
substance consisting of infinite attributes,"
Durant:636
- 3rd Def.
(4) "each of
which expresses eternal and infinite essence"
(DVI).
God so defined
you call absolute substance; you differentiate Him from
the world
which you call conditional
substance, and then you declare
that the relation
between the absolute and the
conditional substance
is like that of creator
to created. In opposition to you, I deny at the very
outset the existence
of a God outside the world
and of His relation to
the world as
creator. Still, unaccustomed as I am
to dispute about
mere
names, I shall retain your own term substance as
a philosophic
surrogate
to the pious name God, and in your own terms I am
going to
unfold a new
conception of the Nature
of G-D and of His relation to the
Deus siveNatura
world.
To begin with, I shall abandon your distinction between absolute
substance and conditional
substance, but shall use the term substance
in that restrictive
sense in which you use the expression absolute sub-
stance. Then, what
you call conditional substance, or the world, I shall
call mode.
Furthermore, unlike you,
I shall not describe the relation of
substance to mode
as that of creator
to created, but rather as that
of whole
to part, or, to be more exact, as that of universal to
particular
(Defs. II
and V; Axioms I and II;
Prop. I). The reason for my disagreeing
with you on
the question of the causal
relation between God and the
G-D
world is that
I find your doctrine of creation, however you may
try to
explain it, an untenable
hypothesis (Props.
II-VI). Barring this difference
between us, a
difference which, I must confess, is fundamental
and
far-reaching
in its effect, I am going to
describe my substance in all
those terms which
you make use of in describing your God.
Like your
God, my substance
is: E5:Bk.I:317—"Letter
on the Infinite.".
(I) The
highest kind of ens, for existence
appertains to its nature
Linguistic play
(Prop. VII).
(2) It is
also absolutely infinite (Prop. VIII).
(3) Furthermore,
it consists of infinite attributes (Prop. IX).
(4) Finally,
each of its attributes expresses eternal and infinite
essence (Prop. X).
I have thus described
my substance in all those terms which you use
Holidays
in your
formal definition of God. Consequently,
as I am now to reproduce
your proofs of
the existence of G-D to prove the existence of my sub-
stance, I shall
bracket the terms G-D and substance
and say: "G-D, or
substance
{Nature}
consisting of infinite attributes, each of
which ex-
presses eternal
and infinite essence,
necessarily exists" (Prop XI).
Having made it clear
by this time what I mean by the term G-D I am no
G-D
longer afraid of
being misunderstood. Hereafter I shall drop the
term
substance and use in its stead
the term G-D. And so he
does.
Spinozistic
Idea
E1:Endnote Def. VI - From Herman De Dijn's Book III:18938—Real Definition.
As Gueroult has rightly pointed out (Gueroult 1968, 38, 67.),"the central and only real definition of Ethics 1 is Definition 6, the definition of the object investigated in Ethics I, "De Deo. "All the other definitions are of innate categories, which express fundamental properties of the only two sorts of objective essences of things {Extension (body) and Thought (mind)} that are conceivable. We discover this idea of G-D in us as the idea of the first ultimate cause, which everybody calls "the absolutely infinite Being. "How it is that this idea can be in our mind will be explained once we come to an understanding of ourselves on the basis of an understanding of this very idea of G-D itself. Again, the idea of our thinking selves is an idea we cannot fail to have if we are thinking at all. This absolute certainty will be expressed in the most crucial, "existential {pertaining to existence}" axiom of Ethics II, Axiom 2. Everything we need to solve the fundamental problems left over in the logic is now present.
E1:Endnote Def. VIa - From Wolfson's Bk.XIV:1:216—Evolution of Philosophy/Religion.
As a skeleton framework
to hold together and to unify the fragmentary
pieces of the visible universe, this scheme of Spinoza
is to be regarded
as one of the stages,
an advanced stage, to be sure, in
the long
development of similar
schemes since man
began to distinguish
between the visible and the invisible and to discern
behind phenomenal
sporadic changes a certain unity
and a certain causal connection.
Any Bk.XIV:1:113
attempt to interpret this scheme
of Spinoza as an adumbration of any
specific
theories of modern science is justifiable in the same sense
as
the Stoics
were justified in transforming the gods
and goddesses of
Olympia
into the natural forces and moral principles of
their own phil-
osophy, or as Philo
and the mediaeval Jewish,
Christian, and Moslem
Root Sources
theologians were justified in investing
the God and angels of the Bible
with significances of their own philosophic principles.
There is indeed a
justification in all such attempts at
allegorical methods of interpretation,
whether applied to Homer, the Bible, or
the works of Spinoza, but only
in so far as they are confined to an effort to show
that all these systems
of myths, religion,
and philosophy were inspired by a common striving
Holidays
to see the universe as a whole and to interpret
it as a unit, and how in
reaching out for the truth they almost attained it.
E1:Endnote Def. VIb - From De Dijn's Bk.III:195—G-D's Nature and Properties (Ethics I, P. 1-15)
......, the definitions and
axioms of Ethics 1 serve as a basis to eluci-
date one "real" definition
(Ethics I, Def. 6) and to draw conclusions
Posit: 1D6
= ONE,
from it that will be important
for the rest of our investigation. The
The burden of TEI
& E1.
proof that the definition of G-D
is a real definition, or the definition
of a real thing, is given in Ethics
I, P. 11. This proof—or, more pre-
cisely, the definition used in it—is
prepared in the previous propo-
sitions in two phases. The first phase
is Ethics I, P. 1-8, where the
notion of substance
is clarified through an examination of the sort
of thing
substance is and through a deduction of its properties. In
Ethics I, P. 9-10, the
application of the notion of substance to G-D
is prepared.
In these propositions,
Spinoza operates with notions he does
not define, such as
thing, essence-existence,
nature ("rerum
natura," Ethics I, P. 5),
nature-properties. All these terms are taken
from the philosophia novantiqua
and are ultimately of Aristotelian
origin. The way Spinoza operates with
these terms and combines
them leads to extraordinary
results. For
example, although he
uses the term in a broad
sense as encompassing everything,
nature will turn out to
be identical to, or to consist of only one
Stewart06:158
substantial thing, G-D
(Deus sive
Natura).
Spinoza
Daring
E1:Endnote
Def. VI - Edited from Albert
Schweizer's The Quest of the Historical Jesus; 0486440273
pg. 79—Mysticism.
{Edited
by removing all Christological references. Spinozism
takes divisive individual Religions
and evolves them to
a Universal Religion.}
{G-D delete—'God-manhood'} {is} the highest idea conceived by human thought. {delete--is actually realised in the historic personality of Jesus.} But while conventional thinking supposes that this phenomenal realisation must be perfect, true thought, which has attained by genuine critical reasoning to a higher freedom, knows that no idea can realise itself perfectly on the historic plane, and that its truth {cash value} does not depend on the proof of its having received perfect external representation, but that its perfection comes about through that which the idea carries into history, or through the way in which history is sublimated into {an adequate} idea. {delete—For this reason it is in the last analysis indifferent to what extent 'God-manhood' has been realised in the person of Jesus;} {T}he important thing is that the idea is now alive in the common consciousness of those who have been prepared to receive it by its manifestation in sensible form {mysticism}, {delete—and of whose thought and imagination that historical personality} takes such complete possession, that for them the unity of {G-D} {delete—Godhead and manhood assumed in Him} enters into the common consciousness and the "moments {of mystic insights}" {delete—which constitute the outward course of His life} reproduce themselves in them in a spiritual fashion."
E1:Endnote Def. VII - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:2627—Free
Mark
Twain
"As will become clear from the later propositions:
E4:LIV(4)N:224,
E4:LXVI(4)N:232,
E4:LXVII-LXXIII:232,
Bk.XV:27166-73
this definition of
freedom is of great importance in Spinoza's
moral
Stipulative
philosophy. Of E1:Def.VII
one may note that, although Spinoza
may
seem here to oppose freedom
and necessity, he at once corrects this
impression ( 'or rather ...) by
saying that the opposition is between
freedom and constraint.
To be free, in his sense of the term, is to be
necessitated; but the necessitation is
self-necessitation, determination
Free
Choice
by oneself alone."
(Cf. Note
29 below.) {Analogy}
E1:Endnote Def. VII - From Taylor and
Wheeler's Spacetime Physics, 0716723271;
Page iii—Freedom
What I'm really interested in is whether G-D
could have made the world in a different
way; that if, whether the
necessity of logical simplicity leaves any freedom
at all.
—Albert Einstein
E1:Endnote Def. VIII - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:2628—Eternity
"In effect,
eternity is necessary existence - or perhaps, it would
be
better to say, a certain feature of necessary existence.
Such existence,
Spinoza says, cannot
be explained in temporal
terms, just as the truth Calculus:4.7
that the interior angles of a triangle
are equal to two right angles is a
timeless truth. In short,
the eternal is not the everlasting;
it is the
timeless."
E1:Endnote Ax. III, IV, V,
1P3 - From Wolfson's Bk.XIV:1:90—Transcendent.
This conception of G-D as a necessary cause is laid down by Spinoza in Axioms III, IV, and V, at the beginning of Ethics I. The term "cause" which occurs in these axioms is to be taken as referring specifically to G-D, or substance, in its relation to the world. In Axiom III, he affirms that G-D acts by necessity: "From a given determinate cause an effect necessarily follows." Since G-D acts by necessity and not by volition, there is nothing in the nature of the world that is not in the nature of G-D; the two must be mutually implicative. "The knowledge of an effect depends upon and involves the knowledge of the cause" (Axiom IV), for "those things which have nothing mutually in common with one another cannot through one another be mutually understood, that is to say, the conception of the one does not involve the conception of the other" (Axiom V). Starting, therefore, with his own premise that G-D acts by necessity, he argues against the mediaevals that if God's nature be essentially different from the nature of the world, He could not be the cause of the world, for "if two things have nothing in common with one another, one cannot be the cause of the other" (Prop. III). In an earlier version of the same Proposition, the argument is stated more directly: "That which has not in itself something of another thing, can also not be a cause of the existence of such another thing" (Short Treatise) — that is to say, if God is immaterial, He cannot be the cause of a material world {Transcendence}.
E1:Endnote Ax. III, IV, V, 1P3 - From The Teaching Company's Tapes; "Philosophy of Religion"; by Professor James H. Hall; Lecture 26: Groundless Faith Is Irrelevant to Life—Symmetrical and Reciprocal Relations: Immanent G-D or Transcendent God:
I. The general characteristics of relevance determine its use in everyday contexts.
A. Relevance and irrelevance are two-place, symmetrical, and reciprocal relations.
1. If X is relevant to Y, then Y is relevant to X
{If
G-D is relevant to Man, then Man is relevant to G-D. Indwelling, Immanent
G-D}
2. If Y is not relevant to X, then X is not relevant to
Y.
{If
Man is not relevant to God, then God is not relevant to Man. Anthropomorphic,
Transcendent God}
E1:Endnote Ax. III, IV, V, 1P3 - From The Teaching Company's Tapes; "Philosophy of Religion"; by Professor James H. Hall; Lecture 27: God Is Beyond Human Grasp, But That's O.K— Transcendent
4C. Transcendence3 is the "transcendence of otherness." The only place in which this is commonly said to be exemplified is in the "great gulf(s) fixed" between humans and God or between bodies and minds.
1. Here, "transcendent" means about the same
thing as having absolutely nothing in common
with. On the religious front, it is clearest in
the medieval notion that humans are
not in a position to say anything about God
because of God's total "otherness."
2. Here, the relationship is strictly symmetrical.
If X is totally other to Y, then Y is totally other
to X. If God is radically other to us, then we are radically other to God.
The same disconnect
(but between appearance and reality rather than between men and God)
occurs in Plato's theory of
the Forms. {Also
between body and mind.}
3. There is strong ambivalence throughout the monotheistic
community over God's transcendence
and immanence.
E1:Endnote Ax. VI - From Parkinson's Bk.XV:26311—True
Idea.
11. This axiom concerning the nature of truth may seem clear and simple, but in fact it is neither. Spinoza does not explain what he means by 'idea' in this axiom; this is not done until 2Def3. He uses the Scholastic term 'ideatum' to mean 'that of which an idea is the idea' (cf. 2P5, in which ideata are called 'the objects perceived'), but he does not explain in what precise sense an idea must 'agree' (convenire) with that of which it is the idea. Finally, it does not emerge here that when Spinoza calls an idea 'true' he is using the term 'true' in a special sense, in which to have a true idea of X is to understand the nature of X {the cause of X} (see especially 2P43, and E2:Parkinson:27597). {Hampshire:99-100.}
E1:Endnote 14:5c2 - From
Damasio's Bk.XXVI:209
& 217—Body, Mind, and Spinoza.
Cosmides
& Tooby
[1] This is the time to return to Spinoza and to
consider the possible meaning of what he wrote
on body and mind. Whatever interpretation we favor for the pronouncements
he made on the issue, we can
be certain Spinoza was changing the perspective he inherited
from Descartes
when he said, in The
Ethics, Part I, that thought and extension, while
distinguishable, are nonetheless attributes of the
same substance, G-D or
Nature. The reference to
a single substance serves the purpose of claiming mind as inseparable
{organically
interdependent}
from body, both created, somehow, from the same cloth
{MarkTwain}.The
reference to the two attributes, mind
and body, acknowledged the distinction
of two kinds of phenomena, a
formulation that preserved an entirely sensible "aspect"
dualism
{The
belief that humans embody two parts, as body and soul.},
but rejected substance dualism. By
placing thought and extension on equal footing, and
by tying both to a single substance,
spinoza wished to overcome a
problem that Descartes faced
and failed to solve: the
presence of two substances and the need to integrate them. On
the face of it, Spinoza's solution no longer required
mind and body to integrate or interact; mind
and body would spring in parallel from the same substance, fully and mutually
mimicking each other in their different manifestations.
In a strict sense, the mind did not cause
the body and the body did not cause the mind.
[2]
page 216.....
At numerous junctions in The Ethics, namely in
Part V, Spinoza defines eternity
as the existence of eternal
truth, the essence of a thing,
rather than a continuance
over time. The eternal essence
of the mind is not to be confused with immortality.
In Spinoza's thinking the essence
of our minds existed before our minds ever were, and persists after
our minds perish with our bodies.
Minds are both mortal and eternal. page
217 Besides, elsewhere
in The Ethics and in the Tractatus,
Spinoza declares the mind perishable with
the body. In
fact, his denial of the immortality of the mind, a feature of his thinking
from his early twenties,
may have been a principal reason for his expulsion
from his religious community
(Damasio:32626).
[3] What is Spinoza's insight then? That mind and body are parallel and mutually correlated processes, mimicking each other at every crossroad, as two faces of the same thing. That deep inside these parallel phenomenathere is a mechanism for representing body events in the mind. That in spite of the equal footing of mind and body, as far as they are manifest to the percipient, there is an asymmetry in the mechanism underlying these phenomena. He suggested that the body shapes the mind's contents more so than the mind shapes the body's, although mind processes are mirrored in body processes to a considerable extent. On the other hand, the ideas in the mind can double up {memories, plans, etc.} on each other, something that bodies cannot do. If my interpretation of Spinoza's statements is even faintly correct, his insight was revolutionary for its time but it had no impact in science. A tree fell silently in the forest and no one was there to serve witness. The theoretical implications of these notionshave not been digested either as Spinozian insight or as independently established fact.
E1:Endnote 17:7n - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:26529—Free
Cause.
"Spinoza emphasizes that G-D's
'free causality' is not the ability
to do things that he
does not in fact do. (It becomes
clear later,
E1:35, that whatever
G-D can do, G-D does.) G-D's freedom
lies
in the fact that, in his actions, G-D is self-determined."
Chain
of Natural Events
(Cf. Note 7 above.)
E1:Endnote
17:21n—From Parkinson's Bk.XV:26531—Scholastic
distinction.
Spinoza is here using a Scholastic
distinction which is also used
by Descartes
(e.g. Meditations III, PWD ii, 28-9, where
Descartes
distinguishes between
'actual or formal reality' and 'objective reality').
When Spinoza speaks
of the 'formal essence' of something, he means
the essence
of that thing as it is in itself.
On the other hand, to say that
something exists
‘objectively in G-D's
intellect' is to say (a) that its
existence is mental
and (b) that it is representative
of something. Reality
Curve
Compare E2:V:85,
E2:VII(3)C:86, E2:VIII(2)C:87.
For a further account of Spinoza's
use of the terms 'formal' and
'objective',
cf. TEI:Bk.XV:287196
on TEI:[33]:12 and TEI:Endnote
33:3.
E1:Endnote 21:1 - From Shirley's
Bk.VII:474—'idea
of G-D', Bk.XII:286;
Bk.III:207, 217.
> infinite
intellect of G-D—Bk.III:203
<
The term 'idea
of G-D' (idea Dei) is one of the
more difficult phrases
E5:Dijn:257-
8
in Spinoza's philosophical vocabulary, and it has
occasioned a variety
of interpretations amongst
Spinoza's commentators.
One point is
E2:2P24-32
agreed upon by
all: the term does
not in this context
signify a
[subjective,
finite] concept of
God that any human may have, e.g.
the E1:Dijn:189
Jewish-Muslim
concept as
distinct from the Christian concept. Rather
the 'idea of G-D'
represents an [objective,
infinite] idea that G-D
has, Col:Hampshire:23
in particular the idea that G-D
has of himself, or of his essence.
Dawkins2:Genes[5]
(cf. Proof, 2P4:85).
{ E1:Endnote
28:8 }
Bk.VIII:42954—E2:III:84,
E2:VII(3)C:86; Bk.XIV:1:238ff,
241, 248, 378; Bk.XII:165, 187; Bk.XIX:12529.
E1:Endnote 21:5—universal application.
{The
Cash
Value
of the above is to be
aware that your ideas
( concerning any mode
of any attribute—thought
or extension) are
subjective,
finite—subject to error.
Concetrate on keeping your ideas
objective,
infinite—less subject
to error. E3:GN(2)n, Garden
of Eden.}
E1:Endnote 28:0
- From Yirmiyahu Yovel's "Spinoza
and Other Heretics", ISBN: 0691020787—
Second
& Third Kind of Knowledge.
page 166
[1] The second kind
of knowledge gives me only a partial
account of reality. It draws
the law-like ways in which transitive {members
of a sequence} causes
produce their effects in an endless
chain. Thereby it serves
as an adequate explication of 1P28, but not of the
crucial 1P16. What
it lacks, and the third kind
of knowledge supplies, is the grasp of things according to their particular
essences as they immanently issue from
G-D. This
changes not only the mental quality of our perception but the categories
embedded in it. Things
are understood by their particular essences, not merely by their universal
laws, and the causes which determine
them are understood as logical and immanent, not
as mechanical and transitive. This
now allows the philosopher to penetrate into nature's interior design where
formerly he had its external facet only.
[2] It is
essential to see that the same thing occurs in the other direction as well.
I do not only grasp myself now
as I exist in and through G-D; I
also grasp G-D, the totality, through
some concrete particular (myself)
{I-Thou}
and no longer as an abstract concept or entity.
This is a crucial change with respect to my former
metaphysical
knowledge. I had an adequate
idea of G-D, or the totality of Nature,
before as well; but it was general
and abstract. I knew that individuals
are, in principle, in G-D and that G-D,
in principle, must be expressed
as particulars. But all this knowledge remained abstract for me; I did
not realize it as an actual awareness.
Now, in scientia intuitiva {intuitive
knowledge}, direct
awareness comes back to the fore, no longer a first and overall stage but
the last stage in a long rational
and demonstrative process. It
is only after I have investigated how exactly my particular essence is
determined by the universe at large that
I can also interiorize this knowledge
and become aware in one grasp that, and how, I exist in G-D just as G-D
necessarily exists and expresses himself in me. This
is a powerful realization, redeeming, liberating,
and engulfing all, not in the diffuse manner of romantic pantheism
but controlled by rational comprehension
(which is why the love
{need}
for the universe which flows from here
is described as "intellectual love")
{Isaac
Bashevis Singer}.
And it is the content of this realization,
not only page 167 its
intuitive manner, which gives it the powerful affective
response it has.
[3]
It is through part 5 of the Ethics that
the student comes back again to part 1 and
understands it in its true and deeper light. Our metaphysical
comprehension, too, has passed
into the phase of scientia intuitiva. What
we had known before as an external abstraction we now experience as a full
realization. Again, nothing has
changed in the material ingredients of this knowledge; if we were to verbalize
them, they would yield exactly
the same statements. But it is
not any more the same cognitive {of
or pertaining to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment,
and reasoning, as contrasted
with emotional and volitional processes}
object and experience.
[4] This deeper insight into the totality (and the place of the actual particular within it) cannot be attained in the merely discursive {proceeding by reasoning or argument rather than intuition} stage of ratio. This is why part 1 of the Ethics is only grasped in full when approached from the standpoint of part 5. Spinoza's book, no less than his system, has this tacit {implied} circular (or spiral) form which overshadows its apparent linearity.The linear progression is a necessary condition for attaining the third kind of knowledge, but is transformed and superseded in its new, holistic {Holism—the theory that whole entities, as fundamental components of reality, have an existence other than as the mere sum of their parts.}, and intuitive grasp.
{"Immediate"
would be the (infinite) "proximate cause"
of say—
circulation in an organism.
The (finite) "remote cause" would be say—
blood circulation, sap circulation
in a leaf, and traffic
circulation in a city.}
] idea
of G-D E1:Endnote 21:1
[
E1:Endnote XXIX - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:26738—Determinism,
Bk.XVII:55.
{ Free-will,
Bk.VII:2512,G:Bk.X:56,
Neff-EL:L25(78):305,
Bk.XII:202, EL:Bk.III:211,
Cash
Value, Sham.
}
Bk.XIB:239123;
241.
A clear statement of Spinoza's determinism.
The phrase
'deter-
Mark
Twain
mined by the necessity
of the divine nature' is particularly important.
Spinoza's G-D
is not a being who lays down, of his own free
will,
a plan which in
some way determines everything that
is to happen
(cf. 1P32c1:
G-D does not act from freedom of will). Rather, every-
thing follows with logical necessity
from the Nature of G-D - a Being
which is itself necessary, in
the sense that a being of this kind must
exist (cf. 1P11).
An important consequence of this proposition
(1P29)
is drawn in 1P33, which states
that nothing could exist or
Chain
of Natural Events
happen other than what does exist or happen
{Cash
Value=Leap-of-Faith}.
{ What
avails man, his efforts? Man's acts are in effect G-D's
doing. In the Jewish
idiom "Man
is G-D's partner in Creation."
See EL:L22(74):299,
EL:L23(75):301,
NeffEL:L25(78):305,
Neff-TL:L32(19):331,
Neff-TL:L62(58):389,
EL:302.J1,
Cash Value. }
E1:Endnote 29:8 - From Parkinson's Bk.XV:26739—Nature.
In
speaking of 'active and passive
nature' (nature Naturans and
nature naturata) Spinoza
is employing Scholastic
terms which were
Blake
McBride
used in Dutch
text-books of his own epoch. 'Active Nature' is G-D
conceived as a free
cause (cf. E1:17c2);
that is, as the ultimate
explanation of everything, which
is not to be explained by reference
to anything outside
itself. 'Passive nature' is the entire totality of
modes;
not, however, viewed as a collection of separately existing
entities, but viewed
correctly—namely, as being in
G-D, and as
Calculus:4.3
incapable of existing or being
conceived without G-D.
E1:Endnote 29:8—Conceived through itself.
{A cow gives suck to its calf; I conceive of the cow by saying "she needs a calf to give suck to; likewise I conceive of the calf by saying it needs the mother cow to give it suck. But if I say both are inseparable parts (modes) of ONE infinite organism (G-D), (I conceive the 1D6=ONE—G-D), "only through itself. "The cash value of thinking (positing) it thus, is that I cannot abuse the cow without harming the calf, and vice versa, because they are bound-up in an organic interdependence. The same applies to abuse of any mode—idolatry. See indivisible.}
From Popkin's "Spinoza"; ISBN 1851683399; p. 80—Conceived through itself.
There has been a long tradition in philosophy and in Judeo-Christian theology of trying to explain the world in terms of what its causes may be, tracing it back to being an effect from an all-powerful deity. Spinoza's reading abolishes any distinction between the cause and the effect. Whatever is, is G-d (1P14) and is in G-D (1P15). {Pantheism ^ }
Active (natura Naturans):
analogous to the Person; past, present, and
29:8
future; including forebearers and descendents,
(infinite).
Passive (natura naturata):
analogous to the body, as at present (finite).
29:10
E1:Endnote XXXI—From Curley's Bk.VIII:43463
"i.e.,
though thought is an attribute
of G-D, and he is a thinking
thing (2P1),
he has neither intellect, nor will,
desire nor love."
G-D
at 100% °P
{Calculus:4.4,
E3:GN2n}
E1:Endnote 32:6c—From Wolfson's
Bk.XIV:1:4032
Indeed, "the power of G-D is his essence itself," (1P34. Cf. 1P17n), but as for intellect and will, they do not pertain to the essence of G-D. Intellect and will, which are the same (2P49c), are nothing but modes of G-D. What kind of mode the intellect, or, rather, the absolutely infinite intellect, is, has already been explained by Spinoza. It is the immediate mode of thought corresponding to motion and rest, which are the immediate mode of extension. So is also will an immediate mode of thought. Consequently, "will and intellect are related to the nature of G-d as motion and rest," (1P32c2) except that will and intellect are the immediate mode of the attribute of thought whereas motion and rest are the immediate mode of the attribute of extension.
E1:Endnote 1P33 - From Matthew
Stewart's The Courier and the Heretic 2006;
0393058980;
p.160—Things Happen Necessarily:
[1] Spinoza deduces many things from his concept of G-D, but one in particilar deserves mention for its central role in subsequent controversies. In Spinoza's world, everything that happens, happens necessarily. One of the most notorious propositions of the Ethics is: "Things could not have been produced by G-D in any manner or in any order different from that which in fact exists." This is a logical inference from the proposition that the relation of G-D to the world is something like that of an essence to its properties {circle to roundness}: G-D cannot one day decide to do things differently any more than a circle can choose not to be round, or a mountain can forswear the valley that forms on its side. The view that there is a "necessary" aspect of things may be referred to by the sometimes inappropriate name of "determinism:"
[2] Of course, Spinoza acknowledges, in the world we see around us, many things seem to be contingent—or merely possible, and not necessary. That is, it seems that things don't have to be the way that they are: the earth might never have formed; this book might never have been published; and so on. In fact, Spinoza goes on to say, every particular thing in the world is contingent when considered solely with respect to its own nature. In technical terms, he says that "existence" pertains to the essence of nothing—save G-D. Thus, at some level, Spinoza stands for the opposite of the usual caricature of the determinist as reductivist, for, according to his line of thinking, we humans are never in a position to understand the complete and specific chain of causality that gives any individual thing its necessary character; consequently, we will never be in a position to reduce all phenomena to a finite set of intelligible causes, and all things must always appear to us to be at some level radically free. (In this sense, incidentally, he should count as a radical empiricist.) In somewhat less technical terms, we could say that, from a human point of view, everything must always seem contingent; even though from a divine or philosophical point of view, everything is nonetheless necessary. From the philosophical point of view—and only from the philosophical point of view—the distinction between possibility and actuality vanishes: if something may be, it is; if it may not be, it is not.
E1:Endnote 33:5n - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:26844—Contingent.
Bk.XIB:253.
"In
his note (E1:33, Note 1), Spinoza emphasizes that
contingency is
not a feature
of the objective universe. To call a thing contingent—to
say that it
just happens to exist, or not to exist, or to have the
nature
that it has and not some other
nature—is simply to indicate a deficiency
in one's own
knowledge. In reality, what exists must exist,
and what
does not
exist, cannot exist.
Spinoza also indicates, in the last
sentence of the
note, that to say of something that does not exist that
it is 'possible'
also indicates a lack of knowledge. What does not exist
now either
must exist in, the future, or cannot
exist in the future."
{EL:[44]:xxiv}
E1:Endnote AP:3 - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:26849—Prejudice.
"The term 'prejudices' occurs often in this Appendix.
Spinoza has Letter
3320:137[2]
to explain, how it
is that many people fail to grasp
what is, to him, Letter
3421:137[9]
perfectly self-evident.
His solution (which is the same as that offered
by Descartes)
is that such people suffer from prejudices—pre-formed
Mark
Twain
{ingrained}
opinions {and
world view}
that stand in the way
of the recognition
of truth."
Hampshire—prejudice
E1:Endnote AP:6 - Einstein—No
Purpose in Nature. Durant:640—purpose
I have never imputed to Nature
a purpose or a goal, or anything that
Ends
could be understood as anthropomorphic.
What I see in Nature is a
magnificent structure that we can comprehend only
very imperfectly,
and that must fill a thinking person with
a feeling of humility. This is
Humbly
a genuinely religious
feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.
From Ze'ev Rosenkranz "The Einstein Scrap Book", ISBN 0801872030, p. 89.
It seems to me that the idea of a personal
God is an anthropo-
morphic concept
which I cannot take seriously. I feel also not
able to imagine some will
or goal outside the human sphere.
My views are near to
those of Spinoza: admiration
for the
beauty of and belief in
the logical simplicity of the order and
Einstein
and Singer
harmony which we can grasp
humbly and only imperfectly.
I believe that we have to content
ourselves with our imperfect
knowledge and
understanding and treat values
and moral
obligations as a purely human problem—the most
important of
all human problems.
Einstein expresses his views on G-D and religion.
Letter to
Mr. Murray Gross of Brooklyn, New York, requesting Einstein
to expound upon his belief in God in light of his insight into the
mechanics of nature, April 25,1947.
E1:Endnote AP:41 - From Parkinson's
Bk.XV:26954—Miracles.
"This is almost
certainly a reference to Spinoza himself. In Chap.
6
of his Tractatus
Theologico-Politicus (1670) Spinoza had argued that
there can be no miracles,
in that everything is explicable in terms of
natural law.
This led to his being denounced
as 'heretical and impious'.
{ L20(71):297,
L21(73):298,
L22(74):299,
L73(67):410;
L(75):337. }
E1:Endnote AP:47 - From Shirley's
Bk.VII:609—Knowledge
TEI:[19(4)]:8.
One of the more fundamental doctrines
in Spinoza's theory of
knowledge is the
radical distinction between imagination
and under-
standing,
a point that will be developed in detail
in Book II, Proposi-
tions 40-49.
A corollary of this distinction is the important difference for
Spinoza between
images and ideas. The former
are virtually identical
with pictures,
which the etymology of the word 'imagine'
indicates. E2:Parkinson:27484
The capacity
of imagination, or better the act of
imagining, is for
Spinoza the ability
we have to represent to ourselves things,
which
may or may not exist,
without regard to truth. In this sense the imagin-
ation is always
"free" and "spontaneous": reality
doesn't tie it down.
Understanding, or
intellect, however, is not so
"fancy free." It is
Wolf:P108,
L1
concerned with reality
and truth. Ideas,
for Spinoza, are the products of
the intellect, or
understanding: they are not pictures
of things but
judgments about them, and hence
are true or false. (E2:XLIII(5):114)
In this passage Spinoza is contrasting those
who merely have
images about things,
and accordingly
picture them as being good or
Ferguson
bad,
beautiful or ugly, with
those who, concerned with truth,
make Prof.
Hall:79
rational
judgments
about reality based upon some understanding of
nature.
Such people may be
wrong, but at least they have ventured a
judgment about the
world, which can be in principle verified. Spinoza
maintains here
that those who employ ideas,
i.e. understanding,
recognize that in
reality things are neither good nor bad;
they just are
and must
be the way they are. Moralizing about nature is for him
idle
and empty, since it is based
upon imagination, not the intellect.
End of Part I Notes.
THE ETHICS - Part I
Revised: September 9, 2006
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"A Dedication to Spinoza's
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