We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from D
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2025
The concept of desire (cupiditas) is central to Spinoza’s theory of motivation. It is that affect by which one is determined to think or act in some particular way (E3p56; E3DA1). It is also, along with joy and sadness, one of the three primary affects (E3p11s). But despite its significance, there is much about Spinoza’s account of desire that remains subject to debate. Interpretative questions include: what exactly is the relationship between striving and desire? How are we to reconcile the three apparently different construals that Spinoza gives of desire? If affects are changes in one’s power of acting, in what sense is desire an affect at all? How are we to understand relationships between desire, joy, and sadness such that they can all be “primary” affects? And how should we understand the meaning and scope of Spinoza’s bold assertion that we do not desire things because we judge them to be good, but rather judge things to be good because we desire them (E3p9s)? This entry considers answers to each of these questions.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
