Some of the questions for midterm two:

Short Answer:

1. Attribute
2. Mode
3. Substance
4. Freedom
5. The field metaphysic
6. Necessary determinism
7. Contingent determinism
8. Explain Definition 1: "By that which is self-caused, I mean that of which the essence involves existence, or that of which the nature is only conceivable as existent."
9. Parallelism

Essay Questions:

1. Spinoza provides an ontological argument (of sorts) to the effect that God necessarily exists (the key here is 1P11). Explain how this proof works. Be sure to explain the import of axioms 4 and 5 in the proof.

2. According to Spinoza, normal material bodies, such as voodoo dolls and tidal waves, are not individual substances, but rather 'modes' of the one extended substance. Grush (following Bennett) has tried to make sense of this in terms of a 'field metaphysic'. Explain the field metaphysic, and what bodies amount to in its terms.

3. 1A4 states: "The knowledge of an effect depends on and involves the knowledge of a cause." Spinoza uses this in many ways. One is that he uses it to show (in Part I) that God is the only substance, and exists necessarily (Prop. III is the key employment of A4 here). A second is that it is used (in Part II, especially Prop. VII) to show that there is a parallelism between mind and body. Arguably there is a problem here, in that in order to get 1A4 to work in Part I, one must interpret it in a 'strong' way, and in order to get it to work in Part II, one must interpret it is a 'weak' way. Explain how each of these arguments works (the argument that there can be only 1 substance, and the argument for mind-body parallelism), and why each requires a different interpretation of 1A4.

4. Descartes claimed that since God has free will, and that since God created all eternal truths (such as mathematical, logical, and the laws of motion), that He could have made these differently: God could have made it so that 2 + 2 = 5, for example. Using as an example the 'eternal' law of physics F=ma, explain how Spinoza would react to this. Focus on i) God's freedom, and ii) whether or not the law could have been different from the way it actually is.

5. According to Spinoza, all things are determined to be the way they are. For finite modes, such as you, me and the maple tree, they are determined to exist and be the way they are because of two 'influences': a finite series of infinite causes, and an infinite series of finite causes. Explain what this means.