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182. - Thought

from T

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

By
Alan Nelson
Edited by
Karolina Hübner  and
Justin Steinberg
Karolina Hübner
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Justin Steinberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

Thought is an attribute of God (E2p1) endowed, like every attribute, with infinite and finite modes that are conceived through it (E1def5, E1p16, E2a2). Thought and the related concept of knowledge were important categories in the philosophical theories that Spinoza set out to supplant. Spinoza’s treatment of thought poses some of the most difficult problems for interpreters of his philosophy. These problems are of especially great importance because Thought, as an essence of infinite substance, is arguably the single most fundamental category in his metaphysics and epistemology.

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The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon , pp. 532 - 537
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Recommended Reading

Bennett, J. (1984). A Study of Spinoza’s Ethics. Hackett.Google Scholar
Deleuze, G. (1990). Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza, trans. Joughin, M.. Zone.Google Scholar
Garber, D. (2015). Spinoza’s Cartesian dualism in the Korte Verhandeling. In Melamed, Y. (ed.), The Young Spinoza: A Metaphysician in the Making, 121–32. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Garrett, D. (2017). The indiscernibility of identicals and the transitivity of identity in Spinoza’s logic of the attributes. In Garrett, , Nature and Necessity in Spinoza’s Philosophy (pp. 263–92). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hegel, G. W. F. (1974). Hegel’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy, trans. Haldane, E. S. and Simson, F.. Humanities Press.Google Scholar
Hübner, K. (2021). Spinoza on the limits of explanation. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 103, 341–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joachim, H. (1901). A Study of the Ethics of Spinoza. Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Joachim, H. (1940). Spinoza’s Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione. Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, A. (2014). Descartes’ dualism and its relation to Spinoza’s metaphysics. In Cunning, D. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Descartes’ Meditations (pp. 277–98). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shein, N. (2009). The false dichotomy between subjective and objective interpretations of Spinoza’s theory of attributes. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 17, 505–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfson, H. (1934). The Philosophy of Spinoza: Unfolding the Latent Processes of His Reasoning. 2 vols. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar

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  • Thought
  • Edited by Karolina Hübner, Cornell University, New York, Justin Steinberg, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108992459.182
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  • Thought
  • Edited by Karolina Hübner, Cornell University, New York, Justin Steinberg, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108992459.182
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

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.

  • Thought
  • Edited by Karolina Hübner, Cornell University, New York, Justin Steinberg, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108992459.182
Available formats
×