Existence and Knowledge

Existence and Knowledge

Divine Substance from the Perspective of Spinoza

Document Type : Research Article

Author
Associate Professor, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The basis of Spinoza''s philosophical views is the single substance. Explanation of multiple beings is possible only by referring to the infinite substance, which Spinoza called "God or nature." According to Spinoza, finite objects are necessarily the result of infinite substance, and the whole of the non-divine universe is called the state, which is created by the eternal necessity of the substance of the single substance. By analyzing the substance, Spinoza concludes that there is only one substance that is infinite in terms of adjective and primordial. According to him, the infinite divine substance is indivisible and unique; everything that exists is in God; There can be no substance other than God or imagined. In this paper, content analysis proves that in Spinoza''s view, God, man, and the material world are all components of a substance, and that everything, material or spiritual, is the dimension or extension of God, and that the substance or God is infinite exist and His substance must include all beings and all realities. This is the worst kind of unity of existence in the Christian age that Spinoza states. He did not stop there but went a step further and by denying the end, the ultimate goal, will, and intellect of God to abandon the traditional concept or meaning of God in Christian thought. Spinoza''s solution to the problem of how God''s omnipotence and omniscience are compatible with human freedom is also unsatisfactory, even in his own way.

Keywords

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