PHIL 151 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Baruch Spinoza, Necessitarianism, Determinism
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Spinoza Continued
Agenda
1.Spinoza on God, necessity and contingency
2.Free Will
3.Spinoza: Necessitarian?
4.Spinoza vs. Descartes
Reading for next week- Leibniz: pg. 225-247, 248-264
Spinoza's Proof that God is the only Substance
P1. If there are 2 substances, they must differ in their attributes (prop.4)
P2. If they differ in their attributes, one substance must have an attribute that the other lacks (prop. 5)
P3. But God is an infinite substance which has all attributes (prop. 11)
Conc. Therefore, there can be no substance other than God
Spinoza's conception of God
Rejects the concept of God having any anthropomorphic qualities
oGod is the totality of nature itself
Spinoza's system is inherently Deterministic
oThe thesis that every event in the universe has a prior cause which is sufficient for
bringing that event into existence, and no other
oNothing happens w/out some causal explanation (resonates w/ the PSR)
Causal Determinism
1.Every event has a cause
2.The cause of the event is sufficient for that event to occur, and no other event
Freedom & Necessity
If the universe is deterministic, then it isn't clear whether we have genuine free will
In order for there to be free will, some events must be contingent rather than necessary given
the state of the universe
oMy choice to et a muffin for breakfast rather than eggs should have been contingent
on me choosing one rather than the other
oIt should also be true that I could have chosen to eat eggs - it has to have been
possible for me to have chosen differently (Principle of Alternate Possibilities)
Spinoza's Conception of God
God does not act or choose in the manner or a human, nor does God have a grand purpose or
goal
oGod just "is" and doesn't have free will
God is the totality of nature all its laws (God can't step outside those laws and intervene or
make choices)
oEverything that happens is a result as God being "is"
Prop 17: God acts solely from the laws of his own nature, constrained by none
Pg. 152
Prop 29: Nothing in nature is contingent, but all things are from the necessity of the divine
nature determined to exists and to act in a definite way
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