SLIDE 2 VIKA

Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order (Latin: Ethica, ordine geometrico

demonstrata), usually known as the Ethics, is a philosophical treatise written in
Latin by Baruch Spinoza (Benedictus de Spinoza). It was written between 1661
and 1675 and was first published posthumously in 1677.

SLIDE 3 KATE

The book is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to apply the method of Euclid in
philosophy. Spinoza puts forward a small number of definitions and axioms from
which he attempts to derive hundreds of propositions and corollaries, such as
"When the Mind imagines its own lack of power, it is saddened by it","A free man
thinks of nothing less than of death", and "The human Mind cannot be absolutely
destroyed with the Body, but something of it remains which is eternal.

Part I: Of God VIKA

The first part of the book addresses the relationship between God and the universe.
Spinoza was engaging with a Tradition that held: God exists outside of the
universe; God created the universe for a reason; and God could have created a
different universe according to his will. Spinoza denies each point. According to
Spinoza, God is the natural world. Spinoza concludes the following: God is the
substance comprising the universe, with God existing in itself, not somehow
outside of the universe; and the universe exists as it does from necessity, not
because of a divine theological reason or will.

Part II: Of the Nature & Origin of the Mind KATE

The second part focuses on the human mind and body. Spinoza attacks several
Cartesian positions: that the mind and body are distinct substances that can affect
one another; that we know our minds better than we know our bodies; that our
senses may be trusted; that despite being created by God we can make mistakes,
namely, when we affirm, of our own free will, an idea that is not clear and distinct.

Part III: Of the Origin & Nature of Emotions VIKA

In the third part of the Ethics, Spinoza argues that all things, including human
beings, strive to persevere in their being. This is usually taken to mean that things
try to last for as long as they can.
Part IV: Of the Servitude of Humanity, or the Strength of the Emotions KATE

The fourth part analyzes human passions, which Spinoza sees as aspects of the
mind that direct us outwards to seek what gives pleasure and shun what gives pain.
The "bondage" he refers to is domination by these passions or "affects" as he calls
them.

Part V: Of the Power of the Intellect, or the Liberty of Humanity VIKA

The fifth part argues that reason can govern the affects in the pursuit of virtue,
which for Spinoza is self-preservation

SUMMARY KATE

Spinoza's "Ethics" urges the reader to live a life in accordance with the laws of
reason, whose consummation is blessedness through the knowledge of God. His
naturalist postulate of God as synonomous with the whole of the natural world was
perhaps the most inspired and original reformulation of the concept of God.