Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Ethics is a book that explores the nature of God, the universe, and the human mind, and the implications of these ideas for human happiness and morality. It is written by Baruch Spinoza, a 17th-century Dutch philosopher who was excommunicated from the Jewish community for his radical views.
- If you are interested in learning more about Spinoza’s system and how it can help you live a better life, read on. You will discover a fascinating and original perspective on the most fundamental questions of existence and ethics.
Ethics (1677) is Spinoza’s enigmatic masterwork that changed philosophy. One of only two published works by the author, with the other published anonymously, the text became a flashpoint for divisions around the nature of god, religion, and nature, as well as a foundation for traditions of western mysticism and spirituality ever since.
Introduction: God-drunk mystic, or hell-spawned atheist? Discover the remarkable story of Baruch Spinoza and his Ethics
To say that Baruch, or Benedictus, or Bento Spinoza is an enigmatic figure in the history of philosophy is to underestimate both the power of his work and his own life’s story. He is an enigma wrapped in a mystery shrouded in clouds of harsh judgements and accusations of religious heresy on all sides.
Spinoza was born in 1632 as the son of Sephardic Jewish immigrants. His ancestors fled from Portugal after the 1492 Edict of Expulsion, or Alhambra Decree, and set up as merchants in the Netherlands.
Excluded from Dutch society both by his religion, Judaism, and his family’s history of migration, Spinoza was also formally excommunicated from his Jewish faith in the summer of 1656, at the age of just 23. In what was likely a dispute not about philosophy or religion but family merchant business after the death of Spinoza’s father, this made Spinoza an outsider’s outsider: alienated from family, religion, local culture, and the merchant business itself.
From this solitary place he crafted a philosophy like no other. Most often after long days earning his living by meticulously grinding glass lenses that fueled the burgeoning telescope and microscope industries of the times.
Spinoza wrote Ethics in the language of a mathematical proof: as if to negate any possible arguments against his ideas by using the unassailable framework of geometry and logic. It was published the same year he died from lung disease brought on by breathing the fine glass dust generated by his work.
To some, it’s an unreadable work of dry, dusty statements. To others, it’s the moving and emotional story of one soul’s journey toward true reality, and the nature of the universe. One in which he finds he isn’t alone after all, but a vital part of everything that exists.
So if you’ve ever been curious about the origins of Western mysticism, or the foundations of contemporary thought, or even just the great minds of history that revolutionized how we see the world around us, this summary is for you. In it, we’ll tackle a few of Spinoza’s most foundational insights, and see why they continue to have such a profound influence on our thinking to this very day.
On God: definitions, axioms, propositions
Since the time of ancient Greece, philosophers in the western tradition have grappled with the big questions around the meaning of life. Many of the answers came from religion and the worship of one or more gods. Divining the will of the gods occupied much of the philosophy, along with explaining or appeasing them when storms, plagues, or other disasters seemed to indicate their wrath.
But in his small, dark room in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century, a young man would begin penning a text that defined God altogether differently. Formulating his definition into a series of mathematical proofs, he aimed to show beyond all reasonable arguments that God and nature were the same thing.
This is how he started. If something simply exists, like the universe, we can only define it as existent. Given Spinoza himself exists to notice the universe existing, it must be that the universe really does exist. Then, looking around, one must say that something like a universe is made up of a variety of finite things, like forces, objects, or beings. These can be perceived as different from one another, but not separate from existence. A mountain will never be an oak tree, but mountains and oak trees surely exist anyway, and an oak can even grow on a mountain so they might even be related in some way.
Now Spinoza considers God. God is something infinite with infinite attributes – something that can be everything that makes up infinity all at once. To be infinite, it must not have a definable beginning or end, or be grasped in comparison to something else. Actually, to be without beginning or end, something infinite must reach beyond time and space itself, to encompass all that was, is, and will ever be.
Spinoza’s philosophy starts from these arguments, stated in simple definitions, axioms, and propositions. The rest follows logically, if somewhat radically. A series of propositions follow that establish several key ideas. The first fifteen propositions define the basic attributes of God as existing, infinite, and indivisible into smaller parts. The next three argue, then, that if the first propositions are true, it must follow that God is the only substance that exists in the universe that is indivisible.
If this is the case, then nothing exists outside of God. And if this is true, then there is no way for us to compare God and the universe, since nothing exists outside of either of them. Ergo, God and the universe are one and the same. God is identical to all of nature, and therefore to existence itself. All things, then, are manifestations of the infinite attributes – meaning nature, or God – and flow from the same, infinite substance: divinity.
Spinoza’s conception of God is a far cry from the personal, law-giving creator of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, and a far cry from the polytheism of ancient Greece. To Spinoza, the infinite was obvious and all around him: one simply needed eyes to see, and the will to reason.
Substance, attributes, modes
If there is only one true substance that can be said to exist and to contain infinite attributes, this substance must be the basis of everything. From this simple conclusion Spinoza continues to unravel theistic models of the universe, and offer a radical alternative to the man-centered theologies of the past.
Spinoza’s idea was labeled monism, meaning that in this philosophy, there is only one true thing – the entire universe, as in nature, as in God. Everything within the universe is a vital part of it. While this may not seem radical at first, consider the traditional religious view of man’s place in the universe: being above nature and ruler of the natural world.
In Spinoza’s ethics, such an idea is inconceivable – animals, like humans, are attributes of the infinite and are considered simply different modes of expression. An oak tree, a brown bear, and a human are all different modes of expression of one universal substance: the universe itself.
In this way, all things are seen as different only in some finite attributes. They all belong to the universe and are vital parts of the universe expressing itself. This prefigures much later thought in Western philosophy, most notably the German pantheist movement of the late 18th century, and many later literary figures like Goethe.
There are more insights hidden in Spinoza’s propositions and definitions concerning substance, attributes, and modes. For example, the idea that nature has infinite attributes also means that there are infinite ways to think about, or experience, these attributes. This brings the focus onto the sensory realm that defines our life on earth.
While so much of religion was urging humans to ignore the pains or pleasures of existence, Spinoza thought of them as means to experience the attributes of the universe – with infinite variations to be experienced. Rational and scientific observation could yield insights into these infinite attributes, and thus into the nature of reality.
Consider music, which is made up of individual modes, harmonies, and rhythms that all exist separately, but together express the music. For Spinoza every cloud, frog, or blade of grass was an expression of some of the infinite attributes of nature, and through these modes of expression he argued we could understand more about these attributes, as well as the infinite substance of which they exist.
No wonder later thinkers saw in the work a kind of early ecological manifesto. One that moved mankind out of the center of existence, and back into the ecological web that makes up all life.
And the radical ideas don’t even stop there.
Beyond duality
One of the most persistent divisions in metaphysics, the branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of being and consciousness, is the idea of a mind-body duality. This debate existed well before Spinoza’s day. Consider Plato’s metaphor of consciousness as a charioteer with two very different horses to drive: one rational and logical, the other base and animalistic. Even in Descartes’ Meditations, the mind is declared immaterial, while the body is merely its fleshy vehicle.
Such thinking dominated Western thought for centuries. But here, too, Spinoza’s metaphysics has a startlingly different approach. If the universe consists of only a single substance, with infinite attributes and infinite modes of expression, then the mind and body are simply modes expressing the same thing. More specifically, the mind is the idea expression that operates in parallel with the physical expression that we call a human body.
The implications of this thinking are quite striking, and directly challenge the work of philosophers like Descartes who considered consciousness to be a unique attribute of humans. For Spinoza, there was always a cognitive aspect to every bodily process. In other words, consciousness is everywhere in nature. While modern philosophers heartily agree that humans are far from the only conscious being in the world, in the 17th century even women and children were considered less conscious than men, and therefore not fully human.
Spinoza goes even further and argues that the mind is subject to the same laws of cause and effect as the rest of nature, and that all mental events have a physical cause. This argument, in particular, gets to the heart of philosophical questions about free will. For Spinoza, every being is acting and reacting in response to its environment, by sensing through its body and responding with choices. Free will, in this sense, is a comforting human fiction – one that offers the illusion that humans can act spontaneously and aren’t subject to the cause and effect chain of the natural world.
So, instead of mind-body dualism, Spinoza sees body and mind as different expressions of the same thing. But that requires a bit more information about how he constructs the idea of knowledge itself. Spoiler alert: there’s no dualism there, either. In fact for Spinoza, knowledge is a trinity.
The first type of knowledge is sensory and imaginative. Beings sense things in their environment through smell, touch, taste, or sight, and then imagine what the best thing to do in this new situation might be, using past experiences as a guide. For Spinoza, this kind of knowledge is personal, partial, and incomplete, in that it is variable to the individual.
The second type of knowledge is intuitive or instinctive knowledge. This is the ability to grasp complex situations or concepts holistically and immediately, as if tapping into some long dormant awareness lingering underneath consciousness. Gut feelings, so vital in determining character, might be the best metaphor for this type of knowledge. For Spinoza, it’s further proof of the fundamental connection between human consciousness and nature.
The third and final type of knowledge is rational and scientific knowledge. This type of knowledge was just coming of age in Spinoza’s time, as Renaissance ideals were giving way to Enlightenment rationality. But rather than taking us further away from the divine, in Spinoza’s philosophy this kind of knowledge can lead us directly toward it.
A new rationality
We’ve seen how, starting with a few select definitions, axioms, and proofs, Spinoza has led us to some radically unique metaphysical conclusions about the nature of being. Now let’s move on to his arguments about rationality and reason. Here again, we encounter conclusions that seem centuries ahead of their time.
In Spinoza’s discussion on human emotions, the cause of much of human suffering is actually a lack of true understanding. For Spinoza, when a person experiences the world only through sensations or their own imagings, they often experience powerful emotions like fear, despair, or hatred. These emotions actually prevent humans from engaging their reasoning to perceive greater truths, which are by contrast affirmative and therapeutic.
These greater truths are what constitute rational knowledge. Rationality invokes human intuition and connects personal experiences to a more universal understanding, one in which compassion, empathy, and equanimity are possible. That’s because rational knowledge means actively exercising reason to derive larger meaning from what exists in nature, not simply reacting to the sensations or events existing within it. This is the same deductive zooming out Spinoza employs in his metaphysical reasoning.
For Spinoza, some emotions are so negative and powerful that they become like a cage, a form of bondage keeping humans locked away from true reality. The cure is to replace unbridled passions with emotions tempered by reason, engaging our sensations and imaginings alongside rigorous thinking to arrive at a more complete understanding of life and our place in the world.
The cure continues with intuitive and instinctive knowledge. Some people refer to this as wisdom. This knowledge goes beyond momentary passions or intellectual imaginings. It often comes holistically, especially through embodied practices like meditation that make space for embodied knowledge to emerge. It is knowledge that reveals a deep inner peace at the core of being.
Ultimately, it is through this engagement with both higher reason and embodied wisdom that we can arrive at an understanding of nature and our place in the world. It also gives us the perspective needed to behave ethically in a complex world without a legalistic notion of God to answer to. In Spinoza’s ethics, democracy is logical, as is caring for nature. Science becomes the means to perceive more aspects of divinity, so that life has more meaning, and can be lived more richly.
The ultimate work of rational thinking is to lead us beyond temporary fears or hatreds to a deeper understanding of connection. It allows us to transcend the mistrust of the new and embrace foreign ideas. As evidenced by Spinoza’s own carefully crafted arguments, reason can unlock a universe of understanding, belonging, connection and meaning. A universe where the divine and the finite are one.
Conclusion
This astonishing work of philosophy offers a radical reconceptualization of God, nature, mind, emotions and reason. It offers elegantly constructed proofs, equating God with the totality of existence, envisioning the mind as an aspect of nature’s infinite attributes, and elevating reason as the path to freedom. Centuries ahead of his time, Spinoza’s monistic metaphysics dispensed with mind-body dualism and man’s dominion over nature, laying the groundwork for ecology, neuroscience and secular ethics. Ultimately his rationalist spirituality reconciles science and mysticism, evidence and intuition, all in the search for the true nature of being.
About the Author
Baruch Spinoza
Genres
Personal Development, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Ethics, Metaphysics, Theology, Rationalism, Pantheism, Psychology, Political Science, Geometry, Logic
Review
Ethics is a philosophical treatise written in Latin by Baruch Spinoza, a 17th-century Dutch thinker who was excommunicated from the Jewish community for his radical views on God, nature, and human freedom.
The book is divided into five parts, each dealing with a different aspect of Spinoza’s system. The first part argues that God is the only substance that exists, and that everything else is a mode or modification of God. God is identified with nature, or the way things are, and is the cause of his own existence and of all other things. The second part examines the nature and origin of the human mind, which is a finite mode of God’s infinite intellect. Spinoza claims that the human mind can know things in three ways: by sense experience, by reasoning, and by intuition. The highest form of knowledge is intuition, which grasps the essence of things as they are in God’s nature. The third part analyzes the nature and origin of the human emotions, which are the result of the interaction between the mind and the body. Spinoza defines emotions as the increase or decrease of the mind’s power of acting.
He distinguishes between passive emotions, which are caused by external things, and active emotions, which are caused by the mind’s own activity. The fourth part discusses human bondage, or the power of the emotions over the human mind. Spinoza argues that human beings are not free, but determined by the order of nature that originates in God. He also criticizes the traditional notions of good and evil, virtue and vice, reward and punishment, and free will.
He claims that these are relative and subjective, and that the only absolute good is knowledge of God. The fifth part explores human freedom, or the power of the mind over the emotions. Spinoza shows how human beings can achieve happiness and true freedom by cultivating reason and intuition, and by understanding the causes and effects of their emotions. He also explains how human beings can form a society based on mutual aid and rational laws, and how they can attain the intellectual love of God, which is the highest form of blessedness.
Ethics is a masterpiece of rationalist philosophy, and one of the most influential works in the history of Western thought. Spinoza presents a coherent and elegant system that challenges the conventional views of his time and of all times. He offers a radical vision of God, nature, and human beings, based on the principles of geometry and logic. He also provides a practical guide to living a happy and ethical life, based on the cultivation of knowledge and the mastery of emotions. Spinoza’s style is clear and concise, but also dense and complex. He uses a geometrical method of demonstration, consisting of definitions, axioms, propositions, proofs, and corollaries.
He also uses a lot of technical terms and concepts, which may require some background knowledge of philosophy and theology. The book is not easy to read, but it is rewarding for those who are willing to follow Spinoza’s arguments and insights. Ethics is a book that challenges the reader to think critically and creatively, and to question the assumptions and prejudices of their own culture and time. It is a book that inspires the reader to seek the truth and to love God, which are one and the same thing for Spinoza.