Acosmist. — 180 Proof
Spinoza’s empty foundational definition renders his whole philosophy just as void — aRealidealist
Yeah, I know, and I respectfully disagree with Prof. Melamed's 'pantheistic interpretation'. Without the Ethics on hand at the moment to cite chapter & verse, here's my quick & dirty: Spinoza claims that modes exist but not independently of substance, that all modes [natura Naturata] are caused to exist by substance [natura Naturans] (because, according to Spinoza, they lack existence as their essence) and therefore are not real, or self-causing. Only substance is real, that is, is causally independent, or has existence as its essence (i.e. the negation of substance - not any mode - is a self-contradicton); and, therefore, in Spinoza's conception, only substance is divine. Modes merely exist - they are not real - not divine. A 'pantheistic interpretation', however, implies that Both substance And its modes "must be divine", which is profoundly inconsistent with Spinoza's thought.Acosmist.
— 180 Proof
Though it is very easy and altogether understandable to characterize Spinoza as an acosmist, Yitzhak Y. Melamed takes a different view in his "Spinoza's Metaphysics: Substance and Thought." See Section 2 of Chapter 2: On the Reality of Modes: The Acosmist Reading of Spinoza, and Why it is Wrong. — Statilius
It's your own logic you're not following, which has nothing to do not with mine or Spinoza's. "Everything that exists is the substance ..." is not what Spinoza says; rather everything that exists is caused to exist by substance (i.e. just as every wave is not the ocean but is caused by (currents in) the ocean).↪180 Proof
I am not following your logic. If everything that exists is the substance of God,... — Valentinus
You're welcome.↪180 Proof Thanks much for your remarks; they are very helpful. — Statilius
It's your own logic you're not following, which has nothing to do not with mine or Spinoza's. "Everything that exists is the substance ..." is not what Spinoza says; rather everything that exists is caused to exist by substance (i.e. just as every wave is not the ocean but is caused by (currents in) the ocean). — 180 Proof
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