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Five parts, demonstrated geometrically.
Part IConcerning God
Spinoza's metaphysical foundation: substance, attribute, mode, and the necessary existence of God, identified with Nature.
Read Part I →Part IIOn the Nature and Origin of the Mind
The human mind as the idea of the body. The order and connection of ideas parallels the order and connection of things.
Read Part II →Part IIIOn the Origin and Nature of the Emotions
The origin and nature of the emotions, derived geometrically from the conatus — each thing's striving to persist in its own being.
Read Part III →Part IVOf Human Bondage, or the Strength of the Emotions
Human bondage: why we are subject to passions and how the structure of the emotions explains the reach of fortune over our lives.
Read Part IV →Part VOf the Power of the Understanding, or of Human Freedom
The power of the understanding and human freedom: the intellectual love of God as the highest good and the meaning of blessedness.
Read Part V →