HUMA 1825 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Baruch Spinoza, Divine Law, True Life
8 Oct 2017
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Spinoza recognizes the difference between law and decree. A decree is actually what is in human perception referred to as law nowadays. Decree is defined mainly as a set of rules and guidelines set by man to regulate, legislate and control actions, expressions and behaviours of others or those of his o(cid:449)(cid:374). This t(cid:455)pe of (cid:858)la(cid:449)(cid:859) depe(cid:374)ds o(cid:374) hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) de(cid:272)isio(cid:374). But a de(cid:272)(cid:396)ee sta(cid:374)ds i(cid:374) ju(cid:454)tapositio(cid:374) (cid:449)ith natu(cid:396)al law, which is defined as a law that depends solely on natural necessity of things and thus is derived from the very nature of things. Since spinoza equates knowledge of nature and natural things to the knowledge of god, the concept of natural divine law is introduced. He specifies 4 characteristics of natural divine law. First, they are common to all men since they are derived strictly from the nature of men, which in turn is universal. Secondly, believing these laws does(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:374)e(cid:272)essitate a (cid:271)elief i(cid:374) a(cid:374)(cid:455) histo(cid:396)i(cid:272)al (cid:374)a(cid:396)(cid:396)ati(cid:448)es.
