A New Philosophy of Looking at the World

In the past few weeks, I found myself questioning a lot of my core beliefs which I had thought were static and unchanging. Apart from the initial shock of such a reconsideration, I have come to think that this might have been a good thing after all. In my honors Philosophy class, we are currently studying Baruch Spinoza, an early modern philosopher who believes in strict pantheism (specifically, monism), or the school of thought that asserts that all things share one essence and one existence.

Initially, I was interested by Spinoza's theory; however, looking at his philosophy through the lens of my personal experience, it suddenly all clicked. Spinoza argues that we all share one essence, that of existence, and that we are all united in one body. From a religious perspective, God--whose essence is existence and infinity and perfection--is within all aspects of creation and, in fact, is all creation. Ultimate contentment comes from an understanding of the self as a part of the whole and as a piece of the ultimate being. Through reason and the use of our power to actively consider ourselves, our emotions, and our decisions, we come to a knowledge of the divine within all things and, consequently, a further understanding of ourselves in the universal spectrum. We, as rational and heavenly beings, are not chained down by sin or held back because we are of a "lower" substance or class than a deity, but instead have the power to examine and understand ourselves and to evolve and change ourselves to active and, thus, content beings.

What a wonderful way to live! We are all a part of some grand fabric of existence and need only to realize that we are a part of it and to reach contentment. We are not individuals, but part of the whole. We are all one and have the capacity for excellence. We exist for a reason because we are existence in itself. We have the power to make decisions, to look at ourselves, and to make ourselves better. It teaches that, as beings who share in the divine nature, we do freely what is best.

That is why I like Spinoza.

Rather than being held down by passions and fixations, we can rise above the concupisence of this world and reach true excellence.

"Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself. We do not enjoy blessedness because we keep our lusts in check. On the contrary, it is because we enjoy blessedness that we are able to keep our lusts in check" (Ethics V, Prop 42).