The paper argues for a formal-causal account of Spinoza's metaphysics. Its basic claim is that neither relations of ideas alone nor efficient causality -especially if interpreted "mechanistically" -articulate the basic sense of the Spinozistic 'cause'. Instead it is formal causality, as understood by Descartes and other 17 th -century mathematicians on the basis of Aristotleʼs Posterior Analytics, which fits best both with the textual evidence and with the more general conceptual constraints of Spinoza's metaphysics. Building on the work of Carraud and Viljanen, the paper develops a more precise concept of formal causality and a systematic formal-causal account of Spinoza's metaphysics. It gives this account footing in new arguments, shows its explanatory superiority to rival interpretations and connects it to other Spinozistic doctrines.
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 ('agreements') 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.
Acosmic readings in fact pose two problems which aren't always clearly distinguished: (1) Does substance self-differentiate in any way? (2) Does substance produce finite particulars specifically? Here I focus solely on (2).
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