SUBSTANCE | GOD | |
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In part one Spinoza gives his doctrine concerning God, or Substance consisting of infinite attributes, each of which expresses eternal essentiality, and his idea of the attributes and of the nature of individual things, or modifications of the attributes of God. | |
ATTRIBUTE | MODIFICATION | |
INTUITION | MIND | |
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"I now pass on to explaining the results, which must necessarily follow from the essence of God, or of the eternal and infinite being; ... those which are able to lead us, as it were by the hand, to the knowledge of the human mind and its highest blessedness." | |
REASON | IMAGINATION | |
DESIRE | EMOTION | |
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"I shall ... treat of the nature and strength of the emotions according to the same method, as I employed heretofore in my investigations concerning God and the mind. I shall consider human actions and desires in exactly the same manner, as though I were concerned with lines, planes, and solids." | |
PLEASURE | PAIN | |
FREE | HUMAN BONDAGE | |
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"Human infirmity in moderating and checking the emotions I name bondage: for, when a man is a prey to his emotions, he is not his own master, but lies at the mercy of fortune: ... Why this is so, and what is good or evil in the emotions, I propose to show in this part of my treatise." | |
GOOD | EVIL | |
PERFECTION | HUMAN FREEDOM | |
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"At length I pass to the remaining portion of my Ethics, which is concerned with the way leading to freedom. I shall therefore treat therein of the power of the reason, ... and what is the nature of Mental Freedom or Blessedness." | |
Type of Thing (abstract) | Infinite/Finite | Eternity/Duration | ||
Substance | Absolutely Infinite | Eternal | God (real) | |
Attribute | Infinite | Eternal | Extension | Thought |
Immediate Modes | Infinite | Eternal | Motion & Rest | Absolutely Infinite Understanding |
Mode | Finite | Duration | Bodies | Ideas |
Components of Method in TEI | Related Reference | Ethics |
Aim - Attain to the supreme human perfection. | Happiness - True Good - Character Perfection | |
Certain Rules of Life | ||
Means necessary for attaining our end. To have an exact knowledge of our nature... | Best mode of perception: Intuition | |
Beginning of Method - True Ideas | ||
Method Defined. the idea of an idea... | ||
Summary of Method. | ||
First Part of Method. a means of distinguishing a true idea from all other perceptions, and enabling the mind to avoid the latter; | ||
Second Part of Method. rules for perceiving unknown things according to the standard of the true idea | ||
Order of Thinking. |
Kind of Knowledge | Other Terms | NonBeing/Being | --- | A Fanciful (Imagination) Relation to Plato's Cave analogy |
First Kind | Opinion, Belief, Confused Ideas, Imagination, Hearsay, Experience | False, Fictitious being |
Theology, Faith, Practical knowledge of life, Words,- Images, and Memory |
Shadows on the wall. |
Second Kind | True Belief, Reason | Abstract, Beings of Reason |
Physical Science, Honour (Honestas), Piety |
Knowledge of the inside of the cave only, including the fire light causing the shadows. |
Third Kind | Clear and Distinct Knowledge, Intuition | Real Beings | True Religion | Knowledge of the cave itself as a cave and more importantly knowledge of the real world and the Sun light outside the cave. |
Term | from Essence | from Cause | Discussion | Reference |
Necessary | the existence of a thing necessarily follows, either from its essence and definition,... | ... or from a given efficient cause. | E1P33N1 | |
Impossible | its essence or definition involves a contradiction,... | ... or because no external cause is granted, which is conditioned to produce such an effect. | E1P33N1 | |
Contingent | Particular things I call contingent in so far as, while regarding their essence only, we find nothing therein, which necessarily asserts their existence or excludes it. | a thing can in no respect be called contingent, save in relation to the imperfection of our knowledge. | E4D3 | |
Possible | Particular things I call possible in so far as, while regarding the causes whereby they must be produced, we know not, whether such causes be determined for producing them. | a thing can in no respect be called possible, save in relation to the imperfection of our knowledge. | E4D4 |
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Slack padding. |