Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T00:22:26.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

156. - Reason

from R

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

By
Michael LeBuffe
Edited by
Karolina Hübner  and
Justin Steinberg
Karolina Hübner
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Justin Steinberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

The common term “reason” (ratio) has several senses in Spinoza’s works. In metaphysics, Spinoza associates reasons with causes (E1p8s2, E1p11d2). In epistemology, Spinoza can associate reason broadly with knowledge. This use is prominent in the TTP, where Spinoza sets out to demonstrate that the free reasoning necessary for philosophy is not hampered by Scripture, which “leaves reason absolutely free and has nothing in common with philosophy” (TTPpref, see also E4p26–27, E4app4). This entry concerns a narrower, technical sense, in which reason is a particular kind of cognition and of knowledge.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon , pp. 455 - 457
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Recommended Reading

Curley, E. (1973). Spinoza’s moral philosophy. In Grene, M. (ed.), Spinoza: A Collection of Critical Essays (pp. 354–76). Notre Dame University Press.Google Scholar
Hübner, K. (2021). Spinoza on universals. In Melamed, Y. (ed.), A Companion to Spinoza (pp. 204–13). Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
LeBuffe, M. (2018). Spinoza on Reason. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Renz, U. (2018). The Explainability of Experience. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutherford, D. (2008). Spinoza and the dictates of reason. Inquiry, 51(5), 485–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, M. (1996). Spinoza’s theory of knowledge. In Garrett, D. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza (pp. 89–141). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×