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Philosophy & Religious Studies   >   Spinoza: Ethics

There is Just One Thing

 
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Spinoza: Ethics

In this course, Professor Susan James (Birkbeck, University of London) discusses Spinoza's Ethics, widely considered to be his magnum opus. In the first module, we think about Spinoza's ontological framework, including his remarkable claim that there is only one substance, God, which has two attributes (thought and extension) and infinite modes. After that, we turn to Spinoza's 'parallelism doctrine', which states that 'the order and connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things'. In the third module, we think about Spinoza's understanding of human beings, focusing in particular on the fundamental desire to increase one's own power. In the fourth module, we consider the problems that human beings run into when attempting to increase their own power, before moving on in the fifth module to consider how humans can overcome these difficulties.

There is Just One Thing

In this module, we think about Spinoza's ontological framework, focusing in particular on the distinction between substances, attributes, and modes.

Cite this Lecture

APA style

James, S. (2018, August 15). Spinoza: Ethics - There is Just One Thing [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/spinoza-ethics/reason-and-freedom

MLA style

James, S. "Spinoza: Ethics – There is Just One Thing." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 15 Aug 2018, https://massolit.io/courses/spinoza-ethics/reason-and-freedom

Lecturer

Prof. Susan James

Prof. Susan James

Birkbeck College, London