Spinoza's Metaphysics: Substance and ThoughtOxford University Press, 2015 - 232 pagina's Yitzhak Melamed here offers a new and systematic interpretation of the core of Spinoza's metaphysics. In the first part of the book, he proposes a new reading of the metaphysics of substance in Spinoza: he argues that for Spinoza modes both inhere in and are predicated of God. Using extensive textual evidence, he shows that Spinoza considered modes to be God's propria. He goes on to clarify Spinoza's understanding of infinity, mereological relations, infinite modes, and the flow of finite things from God's essence. In the second part of the book, Melamed relies on this interpretation of the substance-mode relation and the nature of infinite modes and puts forward two interrelated theses about the structure of the attribute of Thought and its overarching role in Spinoza's metaphysics. First, he shows that Spinoza had not one, but two independent doctrines of parallelism. Then, in his final main thesis, Melamed argues that, for Spinoza, ideas have a multifaceted (in fact, infinitely faceted) structure that allows one and the same idea to represent the infinitely many modes which are parallel to it in the infinitely many attributes. Thought turns out to be coextensive with the whole of nature. Spinoza cannot embrace an idealist reduction of Extension to Thought because of his commitment to the conceptual separation of the attributes. Yet, within Spinoza's metaphysics, Thought clearly has primacy over the other attributes insofar as it is the only attribute which is as elaborate, as complex, and, in some senses, as powerful as God. |
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absolute nature absolutely infinite argue argument attri attribute of thought Bayle Bennett bifurcation Carriero category mistake causal chapter Conatus conceived conception considered constitute Curley Curley’s Della Rocca Descartes different attributes discussion distinction effect efficient cause Eleatic emphasis added entities eternity Ethics existence explain finite things follow from God’s Garrett God’s attributes God’s essence God’s idea God’s nature Hegel ideas-things parallelism identity immanent immanent cause immediate infinite mode individual indivisible infinite intellect infinitely faceted infinitely many aspects infinitely many attributes infinitely many modes infinitely many things infinity inherence insofar inter-attributes parallelism Leibniz mode of God mode of thought modes of different modes of extension monism Napoleon Natura naturans naturata notion object pantheism passage philosophical predicated properties Rocca Salomon Maimon scholium Short Treatise singular things Spinoza claims Spinoza’s metaphysics Spinoza’s system Spinoza’s view Spinozistic Substance and Mode substance-mode relation suggests third attribute tion tropes Tschirnhaus understand