Single Idea 17206

[catalogued under 8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 4. Powers as Essence]

Full Idea

The effort by which each thing endeavours to persevere in its own being is nothing but the actual essence of the thing itself.

Gist of Idea

The essence of a thing is its effort to persevere

Source

Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], III Pr 07)

Book Reference

Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics', ed/tr. White,WH/Stirling,AH [Wordsworth 2001], p.105


A Reaction

This is exactly the sort of thing that Leibniz frequently said. They were much more conscious of the active power of essences than in the scholastic tradition. This is Nietzsche's will to power. Spinoza talks of 'power' in his demonstration of this.

Related Idea

Idea 7142 All motions and 'laws' are symptoms of inner events, traceable to the will to power [Nietzsche]