Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. 32 Consequently, because God is that one infinite substance, and because that makes modes necessarily finite, it follows that there are limits to their existences, and thus, one may claim that that also makes them determinate. Im locked in. 1 Contrastingly, Spinoza goes on to state that though everything ultimately derives from God, he/she cannot be the cause of sadness since he/she is perfect. Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. That is, sadness disrupts peoples abilities to exist because it causes them to less aware of themselves. 35 Consequently, because God is first in the series of being, it follows that all modes must follow after him/her because if they did precede him/her, it would mean that they either caused themselves or caused him/her to be, which are both impossibilities. Spinoza continues to state that joy is a persons passage from a lesser state of being to a greater one. Moreover, God cannot be the cause of sadness since he/she cannot return any feelings that people project onto him/her, and thus, by being free of emotion, it would be illogical to claim that he/she can cause anyone pain. To him, God would have said: Stop praying and Introducing our newest editor, Ed Love, in Australia. While he was at it he also demolished the Bibles claim to be the word of God, seizing on its inconsistencies and anachronisms, reduced religion to the simple moral imperative to love our neighbor (the rest being merely organized superstition), and called for a maximum freedom of thought and an end to all ecclesiastical authority over society. Spinozas Metaphysics: Substance and Thought. Further, it would be impossible for modes to come into existence at the same time as God because there can only be one cause-of-itself in nature. However, he did not hold the converse view that God is no more than the sum of what exists. Conclusion Our motto is: Don't quote it if you can't source it. Asking God for one, asking that He suspend natural law for our benefit, is asking God to trip up God. To Spinoza, sadness is a persons slip into a lesser state of awareness from a greater one. Elsewhere Spinoza might have been jailed or burned at the stake, but in Holland he was left aloneif sometimes by fiat. Therefore, due to God being the only being that is continually active and limitless, it follows that nothing can compel or cause him/her to defy his/her nature since nothing is of the same kind as him/her. Spinozas views on necessity and possibility, which he claimed were the principal foundation of his Ethics (Ep75), have been less than well received by his readers, to put it mildly. One reason why the mind necessarily derives from Gods attribute of thought is that it is of the same nature as it. From this, one may also claim that because it is innate of thinking things to think, it follows that God must possess the attribute of thought because what is inherently in him/her, must, in some ways, be in his/her modes, due to his/her immanence. The Tractatus, Nadler points out, is a more readable and urgent book than his posthumously published magnum opus, the Ethics, with its rigorously Euclidean, axiomatic format, but the books have a common aim: liberation from bondage, whether psychological, political, or religious.. God had infinite qualities, of which we can perceive only two, thought and extension. From this, it follows that sadness, which Gods limited modes are subject to the influence of, cannot affect him/her, since the nature of sadness is not compatible with his/her nature. 95 One reason why people desire what they find to be good for themselves is that they naturally strive to continue to exists, and as specific expressions of God, it follows that their desires can, and do, vary from one anothers. 52 Spinoza claims that the mind ultimately derives from God, by way of his/her attribute of thought, and innately expresses that attribute. [] They are all names for what is ultimate, One reason why he believes this to be so is that the natural order displays its coherency to people, due to their existing only one substance God, or Nature, and thus whatever ultimately flows from him/her as an immaterial substance has a matching effect on him/her as a corporeal one. But I entrust this to you as well. 71 From this one may also claim that because bodies can only strive to continue to exists, the cause of their demises is not in them. This piece has explained Spinozas views on the nature of God, his/her attributes, and the modes that ultimately arise from him/her. Express your joy! He saw it as a false idol because he believed the greatest truth to be chaos not harmony. 103 To Spinoza, it is impossible for God to slip into a lesser degree of perfection, not only because he/she is permanently unchanging, but also because he/she is limitless, and thus, what affects his/her limited modes, cannot affect him/her. My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) has long appealed to skeptics and secularists. By union, Spinoza means that the mind and body are coherent, or it is the case that whatever occurs in peoples minds has a matching effect on their bodies. 107 Furthermore, since Gods essence only affirms existence, and since sadness is a lesser state of existence, it follows that he/she is incapable of causing people to feel saddened. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that alertness is your guide. Spinoza seems to have feared nothing and regretted nothing, and he lived a life of quiet, exemplary virtue. 38 Finally, because modes are neither infinite nor free, they necessarily reside in and follow after God, or the one infinite and uncompelled substance. Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. Its clear what Spinozas God is not. Im bored being praised. in Philosophy from Hunter College/CUNY. Now it is evident, from the definition above given, that prophecy really includes ordinary knowledge; for the knowledge which we acquire by our natural faculties depends on our knowledge of God and his eternal laws; but ordinary knowledge is common to all men as men, and rests on foundations which all share, whereas the multitude always strains after rarities and exceptions, and thinks little of the gifts of nature ; so that, when prophecy is talked of, ordinary knowledge is not supposed to be included. 23 In other words, God cannot defy his/her nature because by being eternally active all existence ultimately depends on him/her, and since being can never truly fade into nothingness, it follows that God cannot change his/her ceaselessly active nature. I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record. That is, only when God is thought of as a thinking thing, can he be said to be omniscient. Also, what composes a human body are smaller individual bodies that are either at rest or in motion, which reflect the nature of all other bodies. What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. 29 Finally, Spinoza continues by addressing the nature of modes or that which ultimately derives from God and his/her attributes. On the other hand, adequate ideas are those ideas that resemble true ideas or ideas that perfectly match their objects, but only insofar as they are ideas. Einstein replied, I believe in Spinozas God, who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.. 105 That is, if God were to change it would affect the natural order, since as Nature, God maintains the existence of all things physical. God as Perfect and Not the Cause of Sadness. In the Ethics though, Spinoza does away with the talk of propria and does not accord them really any status as such. Finally, he states that desires that have good effects increase the minds ability to think, and thus, the bodys ability to act, whereas evil ones diminish those abilities. 16321677 . The doctrines added by certain churches, such as that God took upon himself human nature, I have expressly said that I do not understand; in fact, to speak the truth, they seem to me no less absurd than would a statement, that a circle had taken upon itself the nature of a square. Gods perfection gives all things existence as well as essence (Spinoza, 1985, p. 87) . In responsibility, there is no. (Read more), Whats Actually Happening with Chemtrails? Dutch Jewish philosopher Benedict de Spinoza was best known for his Ethics (1677), which laid out in geometric form arguments for the existence of an impersonal God, the identity of mind and body, determinism, and a way of overcoming the dominance of the passions and achieving freedom and 40 One reason why Spinoza believes this to be so is that nothing is, or can be conceivable without God. Remembering, embodying, and expressing your true Self. Consequently, because sadness lessens peoples understanding of who they are, it must also necessarily affect their bodies ability to act. 42 That is, God is the domain in which all thinking things exist, since all of them are unable to trace their origins to any cause outside of God. Friday, June 1, 2007 12 min read By: Peter Berkowitz. 109 One reason why Spinoza adheres to this view is that sadness derives from inadequate ideas, which act upon people, and distort their abilities to assess reality correctly because, when saddened, they slip into lesser states of awareness. WebTo Spinoza attributes of God or that which one can perceive as being of his/her nature, are eternal and infinite. What kind of egomaniac God do you think I am? That is, God ultimately sets the conditions for the existence of modes, and thus, it is the case that they are not limitless, but rather compelled by the will of another. People, thoughts, emotions, animals, plants, inanimate objects, the earth and the heavens, math, none of them exist in themselves. God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things. From this, it follows that sadness, which derives from inadequate ideas and lessens the minds ability to think and the bodys ability to act, is identifiable by people due to those effects. God is the efficient cause not only of the existence of things, but also of their essence. Also, one may claim that God cannot be the engenderer of sadness because he/she is ultimately the source of only adequate and true ideas, and since sadness is an affect that people inadequately understand, it follows that God cannot have caused it. Unlike the ancient Stoics whom he somewhat resembles, Spinoza thought emotions are best taken care of when they are fully understood, not when they are fully extinguished. 5. WebNo he warned against people (esp. Stop praying and punching yourself in the chest! God is the Immanent Cause of all things, never truly transcendent from them. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. For I hold that God is of all things the cause immanent, as the phrase is, not transient. A History of Western Philosophy. 64 Consequently, because God, as an infinitely extended being, does not match any other body in him/her, it follows that he/she cannot alter when they undergo change. In other words, joy is an external idea that causes people to be at a greater level of activity since it affects the mind by amplifying happiness, which, in turn, necessarily affects the body in a pleasurable way. I cant tell you if theres anything after this life but I can give you a tip. http://www.lensatov.com/, * On the Importance of the Universal Laws. I do not believe anyone has reached such perfection, surpassing all others, except Christ, to whom God immediately revealed without words or visions the conditions which lead to salvation. 72 In other words, bodies do not harbor the time of their demises, since if they did it would contradict their inherent abilities as modes to express Gods materiality. Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. Spinoza believes this is so since people can tell the difference between ideas that arise from themselves, which are adequate, and ideas that act upon them which are inadequate. He used logic to deduce his fundamental principles. Stop going to those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and say they are my house! 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