Philosophical Views of Spinoza
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The purpose of this research is to describe the philosophical contributions of Baruch (Benedict) de Spinoza, from the standpoint of a supporter of his views. Within the short space of this research, we cannot deal with the arguments against both his predecessors (such as Aristotle) or his contemporaries (such as Descartes) that he engaged in in much of his writing, the objections that can be (and have been) raised to the confusions and semantic difficulties in his philosophy (much of which is the result of his own endless lens-grinding refining), or the controversy among his commentators about the relative unity of his system. We will content ourselves with making the assumption that the overall system of ideas is somewhat unified. In this context, we will delineate the largest of the concepts as the major contributions, though many of the smaller psychological insights prepared the way for modern psychology. Spinoza (1634-1677) is often categorized as a Cartesian, or as a latter-day Scholastic. He had something in common with both groups, but the differences are crucial. Spinoza, like the Cartesians, was reacting with reason to the climate of belief that existed in European thought of the 17th century, attempting to apply mathematics and the New Science to the philosophical problems formulated by the Greeks and the medieval thinkers. Spinoza was Jewish, though he was excommunicated from the Synagogue for disbelieving in the orthodox position; his family, thou
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ngness, hatefulness are all merely limited projections by man. God doesn't hate or love anyone.
How does God "cause" the Universe? By logical necessity, since they are identical: it depends on whether we choose to see God as a totality or a partiality, as unconditioned or conditioned. He is the sum of the attributes with nothing left over; if there is a residue, we have partialized Him (as we do when we speak of "Him").
So natura naturas (the Creator/Substance) and natura naturata (the Created/Attributes) are the same. Where does humanity fit in? As one of the infinity of attributes, man shares in the physical and psychical both, and also shares in the infinite, since God partial or total is still God. "Mind" is the correlation (relationship) between human physical and psychical attributes.
This is not some static identification of mind and body. Marx Wartofsky said it well: Spinoza is "arguing for the identity of the conatus, the striving, self-preserving and self-enhancing life activity of a minded body."
Self-consciousness can exist only in a partial modification of Substance. It can only accompany an idea that includes the external-to-itself: without this, it oculd not distinguish itself. Thus, psycho-phys
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Approximate Word count = 1872
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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