Page 1 of 1

Spinoza on God, Nature, and the Impossibility of Wrong-Doing

Posted: August 18th, 2023, 2:23 am
by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
The following is from Chapter 2 of the unfinished book Political Treatise:
Spinoza wrote:Man can, indeed, act contrarily to the decrees of God, as far as they have been written like laws in the minds of ourselves or the prophets, but against that eternal decree of God, which is written in universal nature, and has regard to the course of nature as a whole, he can do nothing.

In the state of nature, wrong-doing is impossible ; or, if anyone does wrong, it is to himself, not to another. For no one by the law of nature is bound to please another, unless he chooses, nor to hold anything to be good or evil, but what he himself, according to his own temperament, pronounces to be so ; and, to speak generally, nothing is forbidden by the law of nature, except what is beyond everyone's power.

What do you think? Do you agree with Spinoza about this?

Re: Spinoza on God, Nature, and the Impossibility of Wrong-Doing

Posted: January 26th, 2024, 7:31 am
by Macreen Ouko
In Spinoza's ethical philosophy, he argued that wrong-doing is a result of inadequate understanding. He believed that with a clear understanding of God/nature, individuals would naturally act in accordance with reason, leading to virtuous behavior. Thus, Spinoza considered the idea of wrongdoing as stemming from human limitations in grasping the divine order.

Re: Spinoza on God, Nature, and the Impossibility of Wrong-Doing

Posted: November 29th, 2024, 11:00 pm
by Sushan
I too believe that the notions 'correct' and 'wrong' are applicable only in the societal framework. In the nature itself, everything is the nature and there are no differences between them as right or wrong, or should or shouldn't.

But what I can't grasp is that someone harming another being taken as choosing to harm one's own self. So does that mean the one who got affected chose the harm to be inflicted on them. I don't think so, or else I still have much to understand in this concept.