Spinoza on Essences, Universals, and Beings of Reason

Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 96 (2):58-88 (2015)
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Abstract

The article proposes a new solution to the long-standing problem of the universality of essences in Spinoza's ontology. It argues that, according to Spinoza, particular things in nature possess unique essences, but that these essences coexist with more general, mind-dependent species-essences, constructed by finite minds on the basis of similarities that obtain among the properties of formally-real particulars. This account provides the best fit both with the textual evidence and with Spinoza's other metaphysical and epistemological commitments. The article offers new readings of how Spinoza understands not just the nature of essence, but also the nature of being, reason, striving, definitions, and different kinds of knowledge.

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Karolina Hubner
Cornell University

Citations of this work

Spinoza’s Monism II: A Proposal.Kristin Primus - 2023 - Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 105 (3):444-469.
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Spinoza and the Logical Limits of Mental Representation.Galen Barry - 2019 - Journal of Modern Philosophy 1 (1):5.
Spinoza on the Limits of Explanation.Karolina Hübner - 2020 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 103 (2):341-358.

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References found in this work

An essay concerning human understanding.John Locke - 1689 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Pauline Phemister.
The philosophical writings of Descartes.René Descartes - 1984 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Abstract particulars.Keith Campbell - 1990 - Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell.
The Complete Works: The Rev. Oxford Translation.Jonathan Barnes (ed.) - 1984 - Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
A Study of Spinoza's Ethics.Jonathan Bennett - 1984 - Cambridge University Press.

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