Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered
My two principal aims in this essay are interconnected. One aim is to provide a new interpretation of the ‘infinite modes’ in Spinoza’s Ethics. I argue that for Spinoza, God, conceived as the one infinite and eternal substance, is not to be understood as causing two kinds of modes, some infinite and...
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Aperio
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
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| Online Access: | https://jmphil.org/article/id/2108/ |
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| author | Kristin Primus |
| author_facet | Kristin Primus |
| author_sort | Kristin Primus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | My two principal aims in this essay are interconnected. One aim is to provide a new interpretation of the ‘infinite modes’ in Spinoza’s Ethics. I argue that for Spinoza, God, conceived as the one infinite and eternal substance, is not to be understood as causing two kinds of modes, some infinite and eternal and the rest finite and non-eternal. That there cannot be such a bifurcation of divine effects is what I take the ‘infinite mode’ propositions, E1p21–23, to establish; E1p21–23 show that each and every one of the immanent effects of an infinite and eternal God is an infinite and eternal mode. The other aim is to show that these propositions can be understood as part of an extended critical response to Descartes’s infamous doctrine that God creates eternal truths and true and immutable natures. If we have the correct (Spinozan) conceptions of what God is and how God works, we see that an eternal and infinite God can only be understood to cause ‘eternal truths,’ and that these eternal truths are infinite and eternal modes of God. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1ccb01cc5bf5472b9b521f6b1bf9c02a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-0652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Aperio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-1ccb01cc5bf5472b9b521f6b1bf9c02a2025-01-31T16:07:55ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522019-12-011010.25894/jmp.2108Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ ReconsideredKristin Primus0 My two principal aims in this essay are interconnected. One aim is to provide a new interpretation of the ‘infinite modes’ in Spinoza’s Ethics. I argue that for Spinoza, God, conceived as the one infinite and eternal substance, is not to be understood as causing two kinds of modes, some infinite and eternal and the rest finite and non-eternal. That there cannot be such a bifurcation of divine effects is what I take the ‘infinite mode’ propositions, E1p21–23, to establish; E1p21–23 show that each and every one of the immanent effects of an infinite and eternal God is an infinite and eternal mode. The other aim is to show that these propositions can be understood as part of an extended critical response to Descartes’s infamous doctrine that God creates eternal truths and true and immutable natures. If we have the correct (Spinozan) conceptions of what God is and how God works, we see that an eternal and infinite God can only be understood to cause ‘eternal truths,’ and that these eternal truths are infinite and eternal modes of God.https://jmphil.org/article/id/2108/infinite modeseternal truthstrue and immutable naturesSpinoza’s response to Descartesdivine causation |
| spellingShingle | Kristin Primus Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered Journal of Modern Philosophy infinite modes eternal truths true and immutable natures Spinoza’s response to Descartes divine causation |
| title | Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered |
| title_full | Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered |
| title_fullStr | Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered |
| title_short | Spinoza’s ‘Infinite Modes’ Reconsidered |
| title_sort | spinoza s infinite modes reconsidered |
| topic | infinite modes eternal truths true and immutable natures Spinoza’s response to Descartes divine causation |
| url | https://jmphil.org/article/id/2108/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kristinprimus spinozasinfinitemodesreconsidered |