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Ideas of Baruch de Spinoza, by Text

[Dutch, 1632 - 1677, Born Amsterdam. Expelled from Amsterdam Jewish community for blasphemy. A lens grinder in the Hague, where he died.]

1664 Letters to De Vries
1664? p.316 4869 Experience does not teach us any essences of things
1665 Letters to Blijenburgh
1665 p.162 7829 God no more has human perfections than we have animal perfections
1665 p.162 7830 A talking triangle would say God is triangular
1665 Letters to Oldenburg
1661 p.277 4866 God is a being with infinite attributes, each of them infinite or perfect
1665? p.290 4867 Whether nature is beautiful or orderly is entirely in relation to human imagination
1675? p.302 4868 Trying to prove God's existence through miracles is proving the obscure by the more obscure
1670 Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
p.21 4300 The Bible has nothing in common with reasoning and philosophy
p.102 7827 Spinoza wanted democracy based on individual rights, and is thus the first modern political philosopher [Stewart,M]
p.684 7487 Society exists to extend human awareness [Watson]
16.01 p.195 19914 In nature everything has an absolute right to do anything it is capable of doing
16.03 p.196 19915 Natural rights are determined by desire and power, not by reason
16.04 p.197 19916 The order of nature does not prohibit anything, and allows whatever appetite produces
16.05 p.197 19917 Without reason and human help, human life is misery
16.05 p.198 19918 Forming a society meant following reason, and giving up dangerous appetites and mutual harm
16.06 p.198 19919 People only give up their rights, and keep promises, if they hope for some greater good
16.08 p.200 19921 Once you have given up your rights, there is no going back
16.08 p.200 19920 Democracy is a legitimate gathering of people who do whatever they can do
16.10 p.201 19924 The freest state is a rational one, where people can submit themselves to reason
16.10 p.201 19923 Slavery is not just obedience, but acting only in the interests of the master
16.10 p.201 19922 People are only free if they are guided entirely by reason
16.11 p.202 19925 In democracy we don't abandon our rights, but transfer them to the majority of us
16.14 p.203 19926 The sovereignty has absolute power over citizens
16.21 p.206 19927 State and religious law can clash, so the state must make decisions about religion
17.01 p.208 19929 Everyone who gives up their rights must fear the recipients of them
17.01 p.208 19928 No one, in giving up their power and right, ceases to be a human being
17.02 p.209 19930 Sovereignty must include the power to make people submit to it
17.04 p.211 19931 Every state is more frightened of its own citizens than of external enemies
17.07 p.213 19932 The early Hebrews, following Moses, gave up their rights to God alone
17.08 p.213 19933 If religion is law, then piety is justice, impiety is crime, and non-believers must leave
17.23 p.222 19934 Hebrews were very hostile to other states, who had not given up their rights to God
17.26 p.225 19935 Peoples are created by individuals, not by nature, and only distinguished by language and law
18.05 p.233 19937 Monarchs are always proud, and can't back down
18.05 p.233 19936 Kings tend to fight wars for glory, rather than for peace and liberty
18.06 (1) p.234 19938 Allowing religious ministers any control of the state is bad for both parties
18.06 (2) p.234 19939 Government is oppressive if opinions can be crimes, because people can't give them up
18.07 p.235 19940 Deposing a monarch is dangerous, because the people are used to royal authority
20.05 p.252 19942 Treason may be committed as much by words as by deeds
20.06 p.252 19943 The state aims to allow personal development, so its main purpose is freedom
20.11 p.255 19944 Without liberty of thought there is no trust in the state, and corruption follows
1674 Letters to Hugo Boxel
1674? p.382 4870 The most beautiful hand seen through the microscope will appear horrible
1674 Letter to G.H. Schaller
1674.10 p.390 4871 A thing is free if it acts only by the necessity of its own nature
1675 The Ethics
p.8 4299 Contingency is an illusion, resulting from our inadequate understanding [Cottingham]
p.51 5638 'I think' is useless, because it is contingent, and limited to the first person [Scruton]
p.52 5639 Spinoza implies that thought is impossible without the notion of substance [Scruton]
p.57 5641 For Spinoza, 'adequacy' is the intrinsic mark of truth [Scruton]
p.57 5640 Spinoza's three levels of knowledge are perception/imagination, then principles, then intuitions [Scruton]
p.73 12928 Spinoza's God is just power and necessity, without perfection or wisdom [Leibniz]
p.77 1587 Spinoza strongly attacked teleology, which is the lifeblood of classical logos [Roochnik]
p.79 1588 For Spinoza eyes don't act for purposes, but follow mechanical necessity [Roochnik]
p.86 23951 Emotion is a modification of bodily energy, controlling our actions
p.126 7412 Spinoza extended Hobbes's natural rights to cover all possible desires and actions [Tuck]
p.132 4308 Mind and body are one thing, seen sometimes as thought and sometimes as extension
p.140 8018 Spinoza's life shows that love of truth which he proclaims as the highest value [MacIntyre]
p.142 8019 Along with his pantheism, Spinoza equates ethics with the study of human nature [MacIntyre]
p.143 7571 Spinoza's God is not a person [Jolley]
p.144 8020 Only self-knowledge can liberate us [MacIntyre]
p.159 4309 Spinoza argues that in reality the will and the intellect are 'one and the same' [Cottingham]
p.160 4311 We think we are free because we don't know the causes of our desires and choices
p.168 4312 To understand a phenomenon, we must understand why it is necessary, not merely contingent [Cottingham]
p.172 7831 Spinoza's theory of mind implies that there is no immortality [Stewart,M]
p.177 7832 Stoics want to suppress emotions, but Spinoza overcomes them with higher emotions [Stewart,M]
p.178 7833 Spinoza names self-interest as the sole source of value [Stewart,M]
p.179 4314 God is wholly without passions, and strictly speaking does not love anyone [Cottingham]
p.197 21807 Ideas are powerful entities, which can produce further ideas [Schmid]
p.224 7835 The key question for Spinoza is: is his God really a God? [Stewart,M]
p.236 7836 In Spinoza, one could substitute 'nature' or 'substance' for the word 'God' throughout [Stewart,M]
p.358 7609 God is the sum and principle of all eternal laws [Armstrong,K]
I p.160 12757 That God is the substance of all things is an ill-reputed doctrine [Leibniz]
I Ax 3 p.46 4815 From a definite cause an effect necessarily follows
I Ax 6 p.46 4816 A true idea must correspond with its ideate or object
I Ax 7 p.46 4817 If a thing can be conceived as non-existing, its essence does not involve existence
I Def 1 p.3 17169 Some things makes me conceive of it as a thing whose essence requires its existence
I Def 3 p.45 4813 Substance is that of which an independent conception can be formed
I Def 4 p.3 17170 An 'attribute' is what the intellect takes as constituting an essence
I Def 5 p.3 17171 A 'mode' is an aspect of a substance, and conceived through that substance
I Def 6 p.3 17172 God is a substance with infinite attributes
I Def 6 p.29 21856 Spinoza says a substance of infinite attributes cannot fail to exist [Lord]
I Def 7 p.46 4814 A thing is free if it acts by necessity of its own nature, and the act is determined by itself alone
I Pr 02 p.4 17173 Two substances can't be the same if they have different attributes
I Pr 04 p.5 17174 Outside the mind, there are just things and their properties
I Pr 05 p.5 17175 There cannot be two substances with the same attributes
I Pr 08 p.30 21857 Substance is the power of self-actualisation [Lord]
I Pr 08 n2 p.48 4818 People who are ignorant of true causes imagine anything can change into anything else
I Pr 08 n2 p.50 4819 There is necessarily for each existent thing a cause why it should exist
I Pr 09 p.9 17176 The more reality a thing has, the more attributes it has
I Pr 10 p.10 17177 In nature there is just one infinite substance
I Pr 11 p.10 17178 Denial of God is denial that his essence involves existence, which is absurd
I Pr 11 p.10 17179 There must always be a reason or cause why some triangle does or does not exist
I Pr 11 p.30 21858 God is being as such, and you cannot conceive of the non-existence of being [Lord]
I Pr 11 p.52 4820 God must necessarily exist, because no reason can be given for his non-existence
I Pr 15 p.14 17180 Everything is in God, and nothing exists or is thinkable without God
I Pr 15 p.56 4821 An infinite line can be marked in feet or inches, so one infinity is twelve times the other
I Pr 25 p.25 17181 God is the efficient cause of essences, as well as of existences
I Pr 29 p.68 4822 Divine nature makes all existence and operations necessary, and nothing is contingent
I Pr 32 p.70 4823 God does not act according to the freedom of the will
I Pr 32 p.168 21802 An act of will can only occur if it has been caused, which implies a regress of causes
I Pr 33 p.31 17183 Things are impossible if they imply contradiction, or their production lacks an external cause
I Pr 33 p.31 17182 Necessity is in reference to essence or to cause
I Pr 33 p.70 7828 The actual world is the only one God could have created
I Pr 33 p.71 4824 We only call things 'contingent' in relation to the imperfection of our knowledge
I Pr 33 p.74 4825 To say that God promotes what is good is false, as it sets up a goal beyond God
I Pr 36 p.34 17184 All natures of things produce some effect
IApp p.37 17185 Mathematics deals with the essences and properties of forms
IApp p.37 12731 Final causes are figments of human imagination
IApp p.38 17186 Men say they prefer order, not realising that we imagine the order
IApp p.38 21859 God has no purpose, because God lacks nothing
IApp p.77 4826 Nature has no particular goal in view, and final causes are mere human figments
IApp p.78 4827 Priests reject as heretics anyone who tries to understand miracles in a natural way
II Def 2 p.45 17187 Essence gives existence and conception to things, and is inseparable from them
II Def 3 p.82 4830 An 'idea' is a mental conception which is actively formed by the mind in thinking
II Def 7 p.46 17188 A thing is unified if its parts produce a single effect
II Lem 7 p.61 17190 We can easily think of nature as one individual
II Pr 07 p.50 21860 Ideas and things have identical connections and order
II Pr 10 p.53 17189 The essence of man is modifications of the nature of God
II Pr 10 p.89 4828 The essence of a thing is what is required for it to exist or be conceived
II Pr 11 p.91 4829 The human mind is part of the infinite intellect of God
II Pr 15 p.171 21805 Spinoza held that the mind is just a bundle of ideas [Schmid]
II Pr 17 p.98 4831 If the body is affected by an external object, the mind can't help believing that the object exists
II Pr 17 s p.46 20310 Error does not result from imagining, but from lacking the evidence of impossibility
II Pr 18 p.100 4832 If the body is affected by two things together, the imagining of one will conjure up the other
II Pr 19 p.101 4833 The human mind is the very idea or knowledge of the human body
II Pr 21 p.102 4834 Mind and body are the same thing, sometimes seen as thought, and sometimes as extension
II Pr 21 p.103 4835 Anyone who knows, must know that they know, and even know that they know that they know..
II Pr 23 p.69 21861 Self-knowledge needs perception of the affections of the body
II Pr 29 p.106 4836 The mind only knows itself by means of ideas of the modification of the body
II Pr 29s p.52 20308 Encounters with things confuse the mind, and internal comparisons bring clarity
II Pr 35 p.108 4837 'Free will' is a misunderstanding arising from awareness of our actions, but ignorance of their causes
II Pr 35 p.109 4838 Claiming that actions depend on the will is meaningless; no one knows what the will is
II Pr 37 p.76 17191 Nothing is essential if it is in every part, and is common to everything
II Pr 40 p.55 20309 If our ideas are adequate, what follows from them is also adequate
II Pr 40 p.79 17192 The 'universal' term 'man' is just imagining whatever is the same in a multitude of men
II Pr 43 p.82 17193 True ideas intrinsically involve the highest degree of certainty
II Pr 43S p.58 21863 You only know you are certain of something when you actually are certain of it
II Pr 43S p.59 21864 Truth is its own standard
II Pr 44 p.84 17194 Reason only explains what is universal, so it is timeless, under a certain form of eternity
II Pr 44 p.116 4839 Reason naturally regards things as necessary, and only imagination considers them contingent
II Pr 44 p.117 4840 Reason perceives things under a certain form of eternity
II Pr 45 p.85 17195 Things persevere through a force which derives from God
II Pr 47 p.119 4841 People make calculation mistakes by misjudging the figures, not calculating them wrongly
II Pr 48 p.87 17196 The will is not a desire, but the faculty of affirming what is true or false
II Pr 48 p.120 4842 Ideas are not images formed in the brain, but are the conceptions of thought
II Pr 48S p.170 21804 Faculties are either fictions, or the abstract universals of ideas
II Pr 49 p.88 17197 The idea of a triangle involves truths about it, so those are part of its essence
II Pr 49 p.89 17200 We must be careful to keep words distinct from ideas and images
II Pr 49 p.89 17199 A man who assents without doubt to a falsehood is not certain, but lacks a cause to make him waver
II Pr 49 p.89 17198 Will and intellect are the same thing
II Pr 49 p.90 17201 The will is finite, but the intellect is infinite
II Pr 49 p.123 4843 Would we die if we lacked free will, and were poised between equal foods? Yes!
II Pr 49 sII p.64 20311 An idea involves affirmation or negation
II Pr 49S p.166 21801 Unlike Descartes' atomism, Spinoza held a holistic view of belief [Schmid]
III Pref p.129 20127 Laws of nature are universal, so everything must be understood through those laws
III Def 2 p.98 17202 We are the source of an action if only our nature can explain the action
III Def of Aff I p.104 20305 Whenever we act, then desire is our very essence
III Def2 p.70 21865 We act when it follows from our nature, and is understood in that way
III P59 p.87 23990 The three primary emotions are pleasure, pain, and desire [Goldie]
III Pr 01 p.100 17203 Minds are subject to passions if they have inadequate ideas
III Pr 02 p.101 17204 Animals are often observed to be wiser than people
III Pr 02 p.134 4844 The mind is not free to remember or forget anything
III Pr 04 p.105 17205 Only an external cause can destroy something
III Pr 06 p.75 20307 As far as possible, everything tries to persevere
III Pr 07 p.105 17206 The essence of a thing is its effort to persevere
III Pr 09 p.137 4845 We don't want things because they are good; we judge things to be good because we want them
III Pr 09S p.169 21803 The conatus (striving) of mind and body together is appetite, which is the essence of man
III Pr 10 p.138 4846 We are incapable of formulating an idea which excludes the existence of our body
III Pr 11 p.138 4847 Pleasure is a passive state in which the mind increases in perfection
III Pr 13 p.140 4848 Love is nothing else but pleasure accompanied by the idea of an external cause
III Pr 49S p.95 21868 We love or hate people more strongly because we think they are free
III Pr14 p.78 20306 Once we have experienced two feelings together, one will always give rise to the other
IIIEm Df 4 p.175 4849 The three primary emotions are pleasure, pain and desire
IV Pref p.115 21870 Music is good for a melancholic, bad for a mourner, and indifferent to the deaf
IV Pref p.163 17207 By 'good' I mean what brings us ever closer to our model of human nature
IV Pref p.163 17208 A horse would be destroyed if it were changed into a man or an insect
IV Pref p.188 4850 A final cause is simply a human desire
IV Def 3 p.164 17209 A thing is contingent if nothing in its essence determines whether or not it exists
IV Pr 03 p.118 21869 Our own force of persevering is nothing in comparison with external forces
IV Pr 18 p.201 4851 Reason demands nothing contrary to nature, and so it demands self-love
IV Pr 18 p.201 4852 Both virtue and happiness are based on the preservation of one's own being
IV Pr 18 p.202 4853 Rational people are self-interested, but also desire the same goods for other people
IV Pr 18S p.126 21874 The ideal for human preservation is unanimity among people
IV Pr 20 p.126 21871 The more we strive for our own advantage, the more virtuous we are
IV Pr 20 p.203 4854 It is impossible that the necessity of a person's nature should produce a desire for non-existence
IV Pr 22 p.179 17210 All virtue is founded on self-preservation
IV Pr 24 p.128 21872 We seek our own advantage, and virtue is doing this rationally
IV Pr 26 p.181 17211 Understanding is the sole aim of reason, and the only profit for the mind
IV Pr 28 p.182 17212 To understand is the absolute virtue of the mind
IV Pr 28 p.496 19435 God is not loveable for producing without choice and by necessity; God is loveable for his goodness [Leibniz]
IV Pr 35 p.132 21873 Men only agree in nature if they are guided by reason
IV Pr 35 p.186 17213 In so far as men live according to reason, they will agree with one another
IV Pr 35 p.209 4855 If people are obedient to reason, they will live in harmony
IV Pr 35 p.210 4856 To live according to reason is to live according to the laws of human nature
IV Pr 36 p.187 17214 To act virtuously is to act rationally
IV Pr 37 p.190 17215 Animals feel, but that doesn't mean we can't use them for our pleasure and profit
IV Pr 39 p.193 17216 The poet who forgot his own tragedies was no longer the same man
IV Pr 44 p.195 17217 Love is joy with an external cause
IV Pr 50 p.199 17218 People who live according to reason should avoid pity
IV Pr 50 p.200 17219 A person unmoved by either reason or pity to help others is rightly called 'inhuman'
IV Pr 50 p.221 4857 Pity is a bad and useless thing, as it is a pain, and rational people perform good deeds without it
IV Pr 51 p.222 4858 A rational person will want others to have the goods he seeks for himself
IV Pr 52 p.201 17220 Self-satisfaction is the highest thing for which we can hope
IV Pr 56 p.203 17221 A man ignorant of himself is ignorant of all of the virtues
IV Pr 57 p.204 17222 The sum of its angles follows from a triangle's nature
IV Pr 58 p.205 17223 Pity is not a virtue, but at least it shows a desire to live uprightly
IV Pr 59 p.227 4859 Pleasure is only bad in so far as it hinders a man's capability for action
IV Pr 64 p.210 17224 If our ideas were wholly adequate, we would have no concept of evil
IV Pr 67 p.151 21875 The wisdom of a free man is a meditation on life, not on death
IV Pr 69 p.213 17225 In a free man, choosing flight can show as much strength of mind as fighting
IVApp 04 p.237 4860 Man's highest happiness consists of perfecting his understanding, or reason
IVApp 09 p.218 17226 The best use of talent is to teach other people to live rationally
IVApp 21 p.220 17227 Slavery is a disgraceful crime
IVApp 29 p.222 17228 Rational people judge money by needs, and live contented with very little
V Pr 03 p.248 4863 An emotion comes more under our control in proportion to how well it is known to us
V Pr 06 p.233 17229 If infancy in humans was very rare, we would consider it a pitiful natural defect
V Pr 09 p.251 4864 An emotion is only bad if it hinders us from thinking
V Pr 10 p.236 17230 If we are not wholly wise, we should live by good rules and maxims
V Pr 17 p.239 17231 God feels no emotions, of joy or sorrow
V Pr 23 p.172 21876 After death, something eternal remains of the mind
V Pr 23 p.260 4865 The eyes of the mind are proofs
V Pr 36 n p.265 16198 Knowledge is the essence of the mind
1675 Improvement of Understanding
§95 p.24 13073 To understand the properties we must know the essence, as with a circle
p.35 p.20 16541 All the intrinsic properties of a thing should be deducible from its definition