SPINOZA
Friday, 16 February 2018
Spinoza :
Substance : The fundamental reality ,in Spinoza’s
philosophy ,is absolute and perfect,eternal and unchanging.He accepted the
concept of substance as self-dependent entity with the dualism of thought and extension
as the two attributes of the substance.He writes in the Ethics:
“By substance, I mean
that which exists in itself,and is conceived by itself,i.e. that what does not
need the conception of any other thing in order to be conceived.”1
It means that the
substance in Spinoza’s philosophy is absolute and non-dual.At the same time it
is the causa sui.Everything else in this universe has cause for its
existence but substance itself is causeless cause.Though it is the cause of
everything of the universe but itself without cause.That’s why Spinoza writes :
I have shown that
he,necessarily exists,that he is one,that he acts solely by the necessity of
his nature,that he is the free cause of all things and how is so,that all
things are in God and so depend on his that without him,they could neither
exist nor be conceived.2
Everything else in the
universe is determined and fixed and there is no place for free will,teleology
and final causes in his system.
There is only one
substance in Spinoza’s philosophy .And it has two attributes – thought and
extension.From the point of view of thought,it is God and from the point of
view of extension it is nature.Reality as a
1.Spinoza – Ethics
2. Ibid
whole
is,substace.And there isn’t anything else upon which this depends to exist.It
depends on itself for its existence.As Spinoza explains :
“I understand that to
be ‘cause of itself ‘ (causa sui)whose essence involves existence and whose
nature cannot be conceived except existing.”1
He says that substance
is self-determined.All its actions qualities follow from its own nature as
necessarily as the properties of a triangle follow from the nature of a
triangle.Substance is absolute.So ,it cannot be determined by anything
else.Every determination will be negation of substance’s absoluteness.Any human
qualities,like intelligence or will etc canot be imposed on it.It doesn’t have
any thinking or deciding quality.So,it does act purposively.He uses the epithet
‘ divine caprice’ for the random incidents of the universe.God isn’t
our well-wisher.He wouldn’t do anything good for us,purposively ,because He
doesn’t have any capacity of thinking.According to him,to consider God as
well-wisher will be nothing else than subjecting Him to fate,and is a most
absurd view of him whom we have shown to be the first and only free cause of
the essence and existence of things.2
Prof R K Tripathi
rightly says that, ‘the only change he introduces is regarding the causality of
the God.The traditional conception of creation is demiurgic,teleological and volitional.These
conceptions appeal more to religious than to reason.”3
1.Spinoza – Ethics
2.Ibid
3.R K Tripathi –
Spinoza in the Light of Vedanta ,p. - 94
If we take into
consideration his views of God as Nature,it seems much more naturalistic than
theistic.Spinoza’s theory of extension may prove him materialist while thought
may prove him idealist but according to Stephen Priest, “I call Spinoza
a ‘neutral monist’because he eschews these extremes and tries to
produce a philosophy by positing a substance,which is ‘neutral’ between its
mental and physical descriptions.”1
Attibutes :
Extension and thought
are not two independent substances,but two attributes of one substance.He
writes, “that which represents a chain of motions when seen from the side of extension
bears the aspect of a series of ideas from the side of thought.”2
He writes about
attributes in the Ethics ,as, “By attribute,I mean that which the intellect
perceives as constituting the essence of substance.”3
From this definition
of attributes given by Spinoza we can draw two meanings: one is that
,attributes are merely imposed by the intellect on the substance and another
that the attributes are real.According to Hegel and Erdmann,since it is
something imposed by the reason,that’s why it is not something real;it is
merely something conceptual.R N
1.Stephen Priest –
Theories of the Mind , p.p. – 160-61
2.Spinoza – Ethics
3. Ibid
Sharma
writes that Spinoza himself in a letter wrote to De Vries ,in
which he has spoken of
attributes as nothing more than varieties of intellectual perception.He writes
as all the distinctions that we make in regard to the attributes of God,are not
real but rational distinctions.
While Kuno Fisher and
others consider ,attributes as real.This view is supported by Thilly also.
As rationalist
philosopher,Spinoza has accepted the necessary forms of thought as objective
reality.Yet he was hesitant to accept the objective reality of
attributes,because,according to him all determinations is negation.But tried
tofind way out of this problem by saying that infinite substance has infinite
number of attributes,all of which are infinite and eternal.
But human being can
know only two attributes i.e. thought and extension.Man possesses himself both
these attributes.Both these attributes correspond to each other.Both these are
infinite but not absolutely infinite,since there are infinitely many other
attributes of God.None of them are absolutely infinite.All these attributes
have independent existence of the other attributes,andthey don’t interact
either.He writes in the Ethics, “When two things have nothing in common with
one another,the one cannot be the cause of the other.”1
Like occasionalists,he
says that only like can produce like.Since mind
and matter have
different qualities,they cannot affect each other.Thought and extension are the
two aspects of the same universal reality,so they cannot become cause or effect
of each other.Both have
1.Spinoza – Ethics
the equal
status.Of course,they correspond each other.
If he will accept the
unreality of attributes,the world will turn into mere vacuum,devoid of any
characteristic,inactive and static as well.
Modes :
By modes ,I understand the modifications of the
substance,i.e. that which exists in God and is conceived by something other than
itself.1
Attributes manifest
themselves in various ways.These various ways of expressions of attributes are
called ‘modes’ in the philosophy of Spinoza.Modes belong to things.They don’t
have existence of their own.Extension is expressed through body while thought
is expressed through mind.Extension and thought don’t exit without body and
mind.
Various minds and
bodies are the modes of the two attributes of God i.e. thought and
extension.Substance manifests itself in various ways.Infinite mind expresses itself
in the form of various thoughts while motion and rest are the forms of
extension.Without extension,motion is impossible.The whole universe is the
combination of thought and extension.Apparently ,the world changes
continuously,though the underlying reality remains the same.
In his view ,substance
isn’t the direct cause of the objects of the
1. Spinoza - Ethics
universe.Though
it is the substratum of the whole universe.According to Spinoza:
Every mode which
exists both necessarily and as infinite,must necessarily follow,either from the
absolute nature of some attributes of God or from an attribute modified by a
modification which exists necessarily and as infinite.1
According to Spinoza
,just as the definition of the triangle includes its various attributes in the
same way the concept of substance includes in itself various attributes .But
,just as we only concept cannot produce the existence ,number form and other
qualities of a triangle so also merely concept of substance cannot provide us
attributes of it.For the existence of attributes ,modes are the necessary
medium.
Concept of God or
Nature : By God I mean a being
absolutely infinite that it is a substance consisting of infinite attributes,of
which each expresses eternal and infinite essentiality,1
God, in Spinoza’s
philosophy is self-caused and It includes its existence by definition.We cannot
think about any infinite entity without presuming Its existence.As Spinoza says
:
By the cause of itself
I mean something of which the essence involves existence,of which the nature is
conceivable only as the being in existence .
Since God is without
any beginning and end ,so It is beyond time and eternal.As Spinoza says :
1.Quoted by Y. Masih –
p. – 82
By eternity,I mean
existence itself,so far as it is conceived necessarily and follows solely from
the definition of that which is eternal.
Since God is
everything,the existence of human beings naturally follows from It. We are
nothing different from Him.Even God moves our body and God thinks our thoughts.For
example:
When we say that the
human mind perceives this or that,we say nothing else than that God,not in so
far as He is infinite,but in so far as He is explained through the nature of
the human mind ,or in so far as He constitutes the essence of the human
mind,has this or that idea.
We don’t have free
will because our actions are really actions of God and logical consequences of
the whole ‘Nature’.
The Mind-Body Problem
:
Spinoza tries to find out some metaphysical
solution to the mind-body problem.One substance has two attributes : first one
is thought which is known as God also while the second one is extension,which
is known as nature. In the same manner,human being may be thought as mental and
physical or mind and body.He writes in the Ethics that mind and body are one
and the same individual,which is conceived now under the attribute of thought
and now under the attribute of extension.
Spinoza rejects
dualism of mind and body.By mind and body he means two attributes of thought
and extension.According to him mind and body are two aspects of human being.He
has also refuted any possibility of causal interaction between mind and body.
Mind and body cannot
become the cause or effect of each other.They are effects of the same reality
i.e. God. Thilly rightly calls this theory as psycho-physical parallelism.In
his view there cannot be any entity like soul or ego.Mind consists
volitions,feeling and thoughts,but in no way these are by- products of the
body.They don’t affect each other.There is correspondence between the bodily
processes and the ideas of mind.Both are parallel.
Things of this world
are modes of mjnd and matter.According to the idea of the body of which the
body corresponds.Human mind is self-conscious also.So,Spinoza calls mind as the
‘idea of the idea of body’.As we have many parts in the body,so the the mind
has many ideas.According to Spinoza,there is co-incidence between the actions
and passions of the mind and actions and passions of the body.
Spinoza’s view is
similar to the view of philobiologists,who accept the existence of
cosmic mind.He says that every mind is an aspect of the Infinite
Intellect,which consists infinite number of minds and ideas.Infinite
intellect is the eternal mode of the thought of God.
Mental activities correspond
to the bodily activities.Mind can know body only through the ideas of the
modifications of the body.Mind can know other bodies through
sense-perception.But this knowledge is not distinct and clear,it is somewhat
confused ond.But knowledge based on reason is clear and distinct.
Spinoza says that
man’s volition is not free.It is pre-determined by some cause.He accepts
rebirth and determinism.
Some objections have
been raised against Spinoza’s parallelism.It cnnot prove the psycho-somatic
problem which has been proved by psychologists.According to the theory of
evolution mind is the developed stage of body . But according to Spinoza both
are diametrically opposed to each other .So there isn’t any relation of cause
and effect between the two.
Pantheism :
According to the pantheist Spinoza,ultimate
reality is one perfect being which is immanent in the universe.If fact He is
not immanent in the universe,but universe itself.As the basic element of the
universe,He is inherent in it.He is the essence of the universe.
The rationale behind
pantheism is this that if God were noteverything,then there would be something
which is not God.And it will cause limitation to God’s
infinity.God must be all of existence or existence as a whole.Since,God is everything,nature
of human being also naturally follows from God.
Universe is not
something without but within God.There isn’t any relation of cause and effect
between the God and the universe but it is merely His self-manifestaion.God is
the basic element of the universe,the substratum of it.INthe words of
Spinoza,God is natura naturans or the source of all reality.And the world is
natura naturata or the objective.
Since He is
omnipresent,He is the substratum of it.As he writes in Ethics:
‘By God I mean a being
absolutely infinite that is a substance consisting in infinite attributes,of
which each expresses eternal and infinite,essentially.’1
God is not
transcendent but immanent in the universe.But Spinoza wasn’t atheist because of
the rejection of transcendent,personal God.As Michael P. Levine writes :
‘In explaining the
relationship between pantheism and theism it is important to reiterate that
pantheism,no less than theism asserts the existence of God.Pantheism is a
non-theistic or non-personal type of monotheism.’2
According to Hobbes,it
is simply not true that “ to say that the world is God amounts to saying that
there is no God.’
Coleridge’s claim of
Spinoza’s philosophy as atheistic,due to its exclusion of intelligence and
consciousness from Deity,is also false.As Levine writes:
‘Pantheism may be seen
as a kind of deanthropomorphised theism.It could be taken as a type of
anthropomorphic projections attributed to God.’3
1. Spinoza – Ethics
,part – 4th
2. Michael P. Levine –
Pantheism , P. – 147
3. Ibid
Three Orders of
Knowing :
Spinoza held that there are three possible
grades of knowledge.These three grades are:
1. Imagination i. e.
obscure and inadequate ideas
2.Reason i.e. Clear
and distinct knowledge
3.Intuition i.e.
Absolute knowledge
He has accepted the
process of development in the realm of knowledge Gradually we proceed from
confused and vague knowledge towards clear and distinct one.
Since we human being
are finite being, our intellect has also its limitations,which prevents us from
perceiving clearly and distinctly the things ,what they are.But since we are a
part of infinite intellect of God,we have every possibility of the development
of absolute knowledge i.e. intuition.
Obscure and Inadequate
Ideas (imagination) :
Obscure and inadequate
ideas arise from sense perceptions and imaginations and are related to the
modes of the body.They don’t give us accurate knowledge.Mere opinion cannot
give us clear and distinct knowledge.Imagination gives us only partial
knowledge of anything.It is based on one sided view of the reality of the
thing.It is based on something phenomenal.
In the words of
Spinoza himself :
“These ideas or the
modifications of human body , in so far as they confused.They are like
conclusions without premises because our ideas are adequate only,in so far as
they are reffered to God.”1
The underlying reality
of things remains illusive in imagination.It causes illusion,error and
misconception.While reason and intuition help us in differentiating truth from
error and also the awareness of the knower of its truth and falsity.Error is
defective knowledge.The truth and falsity of the idea depends on the
availability or the absence of the object,concerned.Having illusory knowledge
and considering it as if it were true ,is illusion.
Clear and Distinct
Ideas (Reason) :
Adequate knowledge,with clear and distinct
ideas , is rational knowledge.Being a rationalist , Spinoza says that only
purely rational knowledge can give us the correct view of the world,not
relation with God.As Spinoza says:
“The essence of one
thing is concluded from the essence of another.”2
Reason comprehends the
reality of things,their causal connections and their relation with the
eternity.The truth and validity of rational knowledge is intrinsic.It is
self-evident.
1. Spinoza – Ethics
2.Ibid
Intuition (absolute
knowledge) “‘Intuitive knowledge is
that kind of knowledge which proceeds from an adequate idea of the formal
essence of attributes of God to the adequate knowledgebof the essence of
things.”1
Intuitive knowledge is
direct and immediate knowledge.It is not based on sense perception.That’s
why,in the view of Spinoza,it is the highest kind of knowledge. In the words of
Spinoza :
It advances from an
adequate idea of the objective essence of certain attributes of God,to the
adequate essence of things.
It shows us that God
is the origin and essence of all things.Rightly says Spinoza :
So long as we do not
have clear idea of God which unites us to Him in such a way that it leaves not
a thing to love besides himself,we cannot say truly that we are one with God
and depend directly upon him.2
1. Y Masih , p.
- 87
2. Spinoza – Short
Treatise
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