09-05-2018, 07:26 AM
Part I: God
Definitions
D1: In calling something ‘cause of itself’ I mean that its
essence involves existence, i.e. that its nature can’t be
conceived except as existing.
D2: A thing is said to be ‘finite in its own kind’ if it can be
limited by something else of the same nature. For example,
every body counts as ‘finite in its own kind’ because we can
always conceive another body that is even bigger. And a
thought can be limited by—·i.e. can count as finite because
of·—another thought ·that somehow exceeds it·. But a body
can’t be limited by a thought or a thought by a body.
D3: By ‘substance’ I understand: what is in itself and is
conceived through itself, i.e. that whose concept doesn’t
have to be formed out of the concept of something else.
D4: By ‘attribute’ I understand: what the intellect perceives
of a substance as constituting its essence.
D5: By ‘mode’ I understand: a state of a substance, i.e.
something that exists in and is conceived through something
else.
D6: By ‘God’ I understand: a thing that is absolutely infinite,
i.e. a substance consisting of an infinity of attributes, each
of which expresses an eternal and infinite essence. I say
‘absolutely infinite’ in contrast to ‘infinite in its own kind’.
If something is infinite only in its own kind, there can be
attributes that it doesn’t have; but if something is absolutely
infinite its essence ·or nature· contains every positive way
in which a thing can exist—·which means that it has all
possible attributes·.
D7: A thing is called ‘free’ if its own nature—with no input
from anything else—•makes it necessary for it to exist and
•causes it to act as it does. We say that a thing is ‘compelled’
if something other than itself makes it exist and causes it to
act in this or that specific way.
D8: By ‘eternity’ I understand: existence itself when conceived
to follow necessarily from the definition of the eternal
thing. A thing is eternal only if it is absolutely (logically)
necessary that the thing exists; for something to be eternal
it isn’t merely a matter of its existing at all times—it must
necessarily exist.
Definitions
D1: In calling something ‘cause of itself’ I mean that its
essence involves existence, i.e. that its nature can’t be
conceived except as existing.
D2: A thing is said to be ‘finite in its own kind’ if it can be
limited by something else of the same nature. For example,
every body counts as ‘finite in its own kind’ because we can
always conceive another body that is even bigger. And a
thought can be limited by—·i.e. can count as finite because
of·—another thought ·that somehow exceeds it·. But a body
can’t be limited by a thought or a thought by a body.
D3: By ‘substance’ I understand: what is in itself and is
conceived through itself, i.e. that whose concept doesn’t
have to be formed out of the concept of something else.
D4: By ‘attribute’ I understand: what the intellect perceives
of a substance as constituting its essence.
D5: By ‘mode’ I understand: a state of a substance, i.e.
something that exists in and is conceived through something
else.
D6: By ‘God’ I understand: a thing that is absolutely infinite,
i.e. a substance consisting of an infinity of attributes, each
of which expresses an eternal and infinite essence. I say
‘absolutely infinite’ in contrast to ‘infinite in its own kind’.
If something is infinite only in its own kind, there can be
attributes that it doesn’t have; but if something is absolutely
infinite its essence ·or nature· contains every positive way
in which a thing can exist—·which means that it has all
possible attributes·.
D7: A thing is called ‘free’ if its own nature—with no input
from anything else—•makes it necessary for it to exist and
•causes it to act as it does. We say that a thing is ‘compelled’
if something other than itself makes it exist and causes it to
act in this or that specific way.
D8: By ‘eternity’ I understand: existence itself when conceived
to follow necessarily from the definition of the eternal
thing. A thing is eternal only if it is absolutely (logically)
necessary that the thing exists; for something to be eternal
it isn’t merely a matter of its existing at all times—it must
necessarily exist.