Closereads: Spinoza on Emotions (Part One)

On Spinoza's Ethics, Third Part, "Concerning the Origin and Nature of the Emotions."

We want to see how emotions ground ethics, but first, we have to explain what emotions are, which means explaining how mind and body (and causality) work together on Spinoza's account. A passion is being affected by something that we don't understand, whereas reason (which will yield ethical behavior) involves grasping a cause clearly and distinctly. The latter means it's in your individual mind, whereas even if you don't understand the cause, it's still in God's mind, which each of us is essentially a part of.

Read along with us, starting on p. 83 (PDF p. 129).

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The post Closereads: Spinoza on Emotions (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.