Spinoza saw God not as a transcendent being but as nature itself, and he saw all beings, including humans, as transformed forms of reality. He criticized anthropocentric thinking and offered a way to live in harmony with nature.
“Spinoza, who has been called “the philosopher who provoked philosophy,” criticized anthropocentric and teleological ideas and questioned existing ideas about God, humans, and nature. He saw God not as a transcendent being outside the world, but as nature itself. This was a powerful challenge to traditional religious views of the time, and a radical departure from the view of God as a personal being with human attributes. He also believed that God had no specific purpose or intention, and that everything in the world flowed naturally according to natural laws. This view subverted the conventional belief that the world operated according to a divine will and plan.
His ideas about God, human beings, and nature are evident in his explanation of substance and modality. He viewed substance as an entity that is the cause of its own existence, that is, an independent entity that does not depend on anything else for its existence, according to which God is the only substance. On the other hand, Spinoza saw all beings other than God as modalities, which are variations of the substance and cannot exist apart from the substance. His distinction is not just a philosophical one; it raises fundamental questions about how humans should view and understand the world. For example, he criticized the view of humans as independent and autonomous beings, emphasizing that humans are merely transformations of the reality of God.
According to him, an entity, or God, has many attributes, but the only two attributes of God that humans can recognize are thought and extension. Thinking is thinking through the mind, and extension is occupying a certain part of space. “Spinoza believed that modality is the transformation of the divine attributes of thought and extension. For example, things like the intellect and will are modalities of thinking, and things that can be seen with the eyes are modalities of extension. In this way, he understood all human activity and the material world as modified modes of reality, suggesting that all existence is derived from divine attributes.
He also divided nature into producing nature and being-produced nature and linked them to substance and modality. The nature that produces nature refers to God as the nature that creates all things. The nature that produces nature is the principle of all things, indicating that it is the source of all things, and Spinoza used this concept to explain the nature of God. On the other hand, the nature that is produced is the nature that exists only at a certain moment, which corresponds to modality. This bifurcated concept of nature emphasizes that humans are not meant to dominate and exploit nature, but rather are part of nature and live according to its laws.
“According to Spinoza, the anthropocentric idea that humans, who are only modalities like other natural things, can use other natural things at will to meet their needs leads to endless greed, which leads to an unhappy life. These criticisms called for a fundamental rethinking of the social and religious mindset of the time. The widespread anthropocentric thinking of the time-that humans were special and could manipulate nature at will-was often used as a rationale to justify exploiting nature. Spinoza directly criticized this thinking, arguing that not only humans but also other animals have minds, and that humans exist within the laws of nature.
He emphasized that in order for humans to find peace of mind and lead a happy life, free from passions such as desire and greed, they must realize that humans are only one aspect of nature, just like other beings, and know their place. Instead of thinking of themselves as the masters of nature, humans should recognize all things as equal to themselves, and this recognition, he believed, would allow them to move toward freedom of mind and not be bound by emotions. These ideas had a profound impact on the society of the time, and shed new light on the relationship between human existence and nature.
In the end, Spinoza saw humans not as the center of the world, but as an expression of nature that creates. He suggested a way for humans to recognize their limitations as part of nature and live in harmony with nature. “Spinoza’s ideas sounded the alarm against the narrow-mindedness of those who tried to see the world as human-centered, and they still have a strong influence on modern philosophy. His ideas enabled a new understanding of the place and role of humans and provided a philosophical basis for seeking a harmonious relationship with nature.
