Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 3 (of 3)Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
PhilosophyPhilosophy
Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 3 (of 3)
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Philosophy -- History
But Spinoza does not demonstrate how these two are evolved from the
one substance, nor does he prove why there can only be two of them.
Neither are extension and thought anything to him in themselves, or in
truth, but only externally; for their difference is a mere matter of the
understanding, which is ranked by Spinoza only among affections (Eth. P.
I. Prop. XXXI. Demonst. p. 62), and as such has no truth. This has in
recent times been served up again by Schelling in the following form:
In themselves, the intelligent world and the corporeal world are the
same, only under different forms; so that the intelligent universe is in
itself the whole absolute divine totality, and the corporeal universe is
equally this same totality. The differences are not in themselves, but
the different aspects from which the Absolute is regarded are matters
external to it. We take a higher tone in saying that nature and mind
are rational; but reason is for us no empty word, for it means the
totality which develops itself within itself. Again, it is the standpoint
of reflection to regard aspects only, and nothing in itself. This
defect appears in Spinoza and Schelling in the fact that they see no
necessity why the Notion, as the implicit negative of its unity, should
make a separation of itself into different parts; so that out of the
simple universal the real, the opposed, itself becomes known. Absolute
substance, attribute and mode, Spinoza allows to follow one another as
definitions, he adopts them ready-made, without the attributes being
developed from the substance, or the modes from the attributes. And more
especially in regard to the attributes, there is no necessity evident,
why these are thought and extension in particular.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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