인간의 삶은 언제나 이성의 문제가 아니라 마음(정념)의 동요로 인해 혼란에 빠진다. 고대 그리스로부터 비롯된 서양의 지적 전통은 감정보다는 이성을 우위에 두었다. 서양철학에서는 이성이 감정을 억제, 통제하는 역할을 자임하는 이성주의 전통을 유지하였다. 하지만 스피노자는 이성중심의 전통(감정을 통제 대상으로 삼는)과 달리 감정을 몸과 마음에서 일어나는 자연스런 현상으로 이해하였다. 따라서 그의 윤리학에는 정념의 문제가 그 중심에 있다. 정념의 동요로부터 해방이라는 주제를 이성이 아니라 몸과 마음의 결합체인 인간의 삶에서 조명하였다는 점에서 스피노자는 서양철학에서 예외적인 존재다. 인간이 몸과 마음의 결합체에서 야기되는 삶의 문제―마음의 동요―는 몸-마음의 결합체라는 조건의 변화가 없는 한, 시대를 넘어선 보편적인 주제가 된다. 불교는 이러한 문제의식에서 스피노자 철학과 공통점이 있다. 몸과 마음의 결합체인 인간의 정념의 문제를 다루는 것은 감각적 쾌락을 긍정하는 현대의 시대적 추이에도 부합하는 적절한 주제이다. 인간 삶의 외적 조건이 인간의 무한한 욕망을 실현시킬 수 있으리라는 호도된 시각을 갖게 하는 현 시대에 진정한 행복은 무엇보다 인간 내면의 문제라고 말하는 것은 진부하지만 시대를 넘어선 올바른 접근이다. 왜냐하면 인간의 삶은 자신의 몸과 마음을 떠나 존재하지 않기 때문이다. 본 논문은 몸과 마음의 결합체로서 인간의 조건을 철학적 담론으로 끌어들인 스피노자와 불교의 유사성을 규명하고자 한다.
Human life is not always a matter of reason, but in a state of confusion owing to passions. Western intellectual traditions, originating from ancient Greece, have outweighed reason rather than affect. In this intellectual tradition, reason has maintained an ideological tradition that plays a role in restraining and controlling affect. However, Spinoza understood affect as a natural phenomenon that occurs in the body and mind, unlike the logic of rational traditions. Thus, his ethics are centered on the question of passions. Spinoza has an exceptional existence in Western philosophy, in that the theme to escape from passions is illuminated in human life; not of reason, but of the human being combining body with mind. The problem of human life―vacillation of the mind― arising from the combination of body and mind is a universal theme beyond the present age, unless this condition changes. Buddhism has something in common with Spinoza philosophy in this sense of the issue. Dealing with the problem of human passions, a combination of body and mind, is a fitting theme which conforms to contemporary trends that positively pursue sensual pleasures. It is the right time to tell mankind that true happiness is beyond human beings in the present age of human life, in which the outer conditions of human life can lead to human beings' endless desires to realize human beings' infinite desires. Because human life does not exist outside of its own body and mind. This paper tries to establish the similarities between Spinoza and Buddhism, which leads to philosophical discourse on human conditions as a combination of body and mind.
Human life is not always a matter of reason, but in a state of confusion owing to passions. Western intellectual traditions, originating from ancient Greece, have outweighed reason rather than affect. In this intellectual tradition, reason has maintained an ideological tradition that plays a role in restraining and controlling affect. However, Spinoza understood affect as a natural phenomenon that occurs in the body and mind, unlike the logic of rational traditions. Thus, his ethics are centered on the question of passions. Spinoza has an exceptional existence in Western philosophy, in that the theme to escape from passions is illuminated in human life; not of reason, but of the human being combining body with mind. The problem of human life―vacillation of the mind― arising from the combination of body and mind is a universal theme beyond the present age, unless this condition changes. Buddhism has something in common with Spinoza philosophy in this sense of the issue. Dealing with the problem of human passions, a combination of body and mind, is a fitting theme which conforms to contemporary trends that positively pursue sensual pleasures. It is the right time to tell mankind that true happiness is beyond human beings in the present age of human life, in which the outer conditions of human life can lead to human beings' endless desires to realize human beings' infinite desires. Because human life does not exist outside of its own body and mind. This paper tries to establish the similarities between Spinoza and Buddhism, which leads to philosophical discourse on human conditions as a combination of body and mind.