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Spinoza's Ethics

George Eliot's translation of Spinoza's Ethics, completed in 1856 but unpublished until 1981.

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Spinoza's Ethics is a philosophical treatise written in Latin that attempts to apply Euclid's geometrical method to philosophy.[1][2] The work derives hundreds of propositions and corollaries from a small number of definitions and axioms.[2] It argues that God and Nature are identical, a position known as pantheism.[3][4]

Making and release

The Ethics was written between 1661 and 1675.[1] He starts with the proposition that no two substances can share the same nature or attribute.[5] He concludes that besides God, no substance can be granted or conceived.[6] Spinoza rejects the idea of an external Creator creating the world out of nothing.[4]

This view avoided the impossible conception of creation out of nothing.[4] The work was released after Spinoza's death, in 1677, having been composed between 1661 and 1675.[1] By employing definitions and axioms, Spinoza deduces his conclusions as logically necessary outcomes.[5] God's existence is justified in the text through the Ontological Argument, with the claim that God must possess an infinite number of attributes.[6]

What the cited sources add

Spinoza claims every possible substance necessarily exists, as part of his argument for substance monism.[7] According to the Stanford Encyclopedia, Spinoza seems inclined to answer "no" to whether there could have been more substances or fewer modes.[7] Spinoza was aware that necessitarianism would go against common sense.[7] The Stanford Encyclopedia explains that Spinoza defines self-causation as "that whose essence involves existence"[7]

Spinoza defines God as "a substance consisting of an infinity of attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence".[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Spinoza's Ethics" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lloyd, "Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Spinoza and the Ethics", Routledge, 2002, p. 24 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Spinoza's Ethics" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Part 3, proposition 55.; Part 4, proposition 67.; Part 5, proposition 23. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Spinoza's Ethics" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Letter XXI (Van Vloten LXXIII); "The supposition of some, that I endeavor to prove in the Tractatus Theologico–Politicus the unity of God and Nature (meaning by the latter a certain mass or co; "Having established that Nature is an indivisible, infinite, uncaused, substantial whole—in fact, the only substantial whole; that outside of Nature there is no; Twice in Part IV, Preface (Deum seu Naturam, Deus seu Natura); twice in Part IV, Proposition IV, Proof (Dei sive Naturæ, Dei seu Naturæ). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Spinoza's Ethics" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cf. "Introduction to Spinoza's Ethics" , by Geoff Pynn, Northern Illinois University, Spring 2012.; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Spinoza's Ethics" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Part 1, Proposition 5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Spinoza's Ethics" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Part 1, Proposition 14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Especially valuable for these specific sections of Spinoza's thought as expounded in his Ethics, have been the online pages by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Phil. facts only, no text reused. plato.stanford.edu

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Spinoza's Ethics (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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