In what way does the following solve the Substance/finite modes problem in Spinoza?

What was Spinoza’s view on substance?

According to Spinoza, everything that exists is either a substance or a mode (E1a1). A substance is something that needs nothing else in order to exist or be conceived. Substances are independent entities both conceptually and ontologically (E1d3).

What are modes according to Spinoza?

Modes are defined by Spinoza things which inhere in and are conceived through substance. It is very natural to suppose that both entities like dents and properties inhere in and are conceived through substance. The category of mode would then comprise both properties and objects-exemplifying-properties.

What are attributes and infinite and finite modes in Spinoza?

The infinite substance consists of infinite attributes (1D6). Every mode, be it finite or infinite, must be conceived through an attribute (1D5, 1P10Schol, 2P6 and 2P6Dem). Finally, what other philosophers consider to be “created substances,” such as my mind (as well as my body), are finite modes for Spinoza (1P11).

Why does Spinoza have only one substance?

There must be a substance with all possible attributes. There cannot be two substances with an attribute in common. So, there cannot be more than one substance.

What does Spinoza mean by infinite?

5. absolutely necessary, Eternal being never begin or cease to exist; Spinoza calls “an infinite enjoyment of existence or – pardon the Latin – of being (essendi)” (102). The spatial or Extended Attributes of Substance likewise do not allow parts or division.

Who said finite substance?

For Descartes there are fundamentally two kinds of finite substance—thinking substances or minds and extended substances or bodies.

What is an infinite substance?

A substance is something that exists independently. The only thing that truly exists independently is an infinite substance for it doesn’t rely on anything else for its existence. In this context ‘infinite substance’ means ‘God’.

What is different about Descartes and Spinoza’s concepts of substance?

However, whereas Descartes held that distinct bodies are distinct extended substances, Spinoza famously holds that there is but one substance—God or nature—and that distinct bodies are merely modes of this one substance, considered as extended.

What is the substance according to Descartes?

Descartes believed in only two kinds of substance: material body, which is defined by extension, and mental substance, which is defined by thought, which, in this context, is more or less equivalent to consciousness.

How are Descartes and Spinoza similar?

Both Spinoza and Descartes subscribe to the rationalist epistemology which claims that knowledge must be self-evident and derived from reasoning, rather than experience. As such, both philosophers believe in apriori knowledge, in which true knowledge is derived prior to experiences as experiences can be deceiving.

What do you understand by the concept of substance in philosophy?

In philosophy of mind: Substance. Substances are the basic things—the basic “stuff”—out of which the world is composed. Earth, air, fire, and water were candidate substances in ancient times; energy, the chemical elements, and subatomic particles are more contemporary examples.

What are the substances that comprise man in philosophy?

Aristotle acknowledges that there are three candidates for being called substance ,and that all three are substance in some sense or to some degree . First there is matter second form and third ,the composite of form and matter.

What makes a substance a substance?

Lesson Summary. A substance is simply a pure form of matter. In other words, a substance is matter than contains only one type of atom or molecule. Pure substances can be further divided into two sub-categories: elements and compounds.

What does it mean for a person to have substance?

Someone who has a lot of power, money, or influence. I think my parents were disappointed that I chose not to marry a woman of substance, but they seem to have gotten over it.