Single Idea 21873

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / b. Rational ethics]

Full Idea

Only insofar as men live according to the guidance of reason, must they always agree in nature.

Gist of Idea

Men only agree in nature if they are guided by reason

Source

Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], IV Pr 35)

Book Reference

Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics', ed/tr. Curley,Edwin [Penguin 1996], p.132


A Reaction

A nice expression of the guiding idea of the Enlightenment - that consensus is the defining characteristic of rationality. Spinoza's politics emerges from this idea.

Related Idea

Idea 21872 We seek our own advantage, and virtue is doing this rationally [Spinoza]