Spinoza defines an attribute as what the intellect perceives of a substance as constituting its essence.
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Multiple scholarly sources and primary texts confirm that Spinoza defines an attribute as what the intellect perceives of a substance as constituting its essence.
Abstract Spinoza’s definition of attributes as “what the intellect perceives of a substance, as constituting its essence” ( Ethics 1D4) has led many scholars to endorse an attribute-neutral reading of his metaphysics. According to this reading, attributes like thought and extension pertain to the way substance is perceived, rather than how it is in itself. Yet Spinoza defines God as “a substance consisting of an infinity of attributes” ( Ethics 1D6). No attribute-neutral interpreter has yet explained how an attribute-neutral substance could be defined by its quantity of attributes. To resolve this problem, I propose a new reading of Spinoza’s definition of attribute, arguing that we should understand Spinoza’s attributes as model-dependent , on analogy with the model-dependent dimensions of Cartesian geometry. I use the idea of model-dependence to explain how Spinoza can maintain that having infinitely many attributes is a feature of an attribute-neutral substance.
of any other conception. IV. By attribute , I mean that which the intellect perceives as constituting the essence of substance . V. By mode, I mean the
intellect perceives of a substance , as constituting its essence ”; “By God I understand a being absolutely infinite ... substances can share an attribute or essence (Ip5). Then, prove that there is a substance with infinite attributes ... misleading to proclaim Spinoza as a proponent of the separation of church and state.) On the other hand, dominion ...
here. Spinoza defines an attribute as "what the intellect perceives of a substance, as constituting … definition of attribute as "what the intellect perceives of a substance, as constituting its essence … offer of a pension from the King of France in return for the dedication of a work to
notion of an attribute which, according to his definition, “is what the intel- lect perceives of a substance … refutation of a Reinier van Mansvelt, a professor in Utrecht, whose book he had seen in the window of a bookseller … understand, so that their intellect and desire agree entirely with my intellect and desire. To do this it
which the intellect perceives of substance as constituting its essence ." It is, in other words, not the essence itself of substance , but that essence relatively
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