Spinoza's Theory On Body And Mind

Spinoza is a famous rationalism philosopher of Europe continent in the 17 th century.He inherited the rationalist tradition of Descartes' philosophy and challenged the medieval theological thought.He affirmed the unity of God and nature in an atheistic manner,and put forward the natural system thought of "god or nature or entity".From this point of view,he studied the relationship between man and nature,seeking the knowledge that the human mind is consistent with the whole nature,and ultimately achieving the ethical pursuit of human freedom,virtue and happiness.In the end,he constructed a unique philosophical ideological system in a systematic form.Spinoza's theory on body and mind originated from Descartes' dualism of body and mind,on which he has made some breakthroughs and developments.In Descartes' view,mind and body are two different entities.Each entity has its own main attributes.The attributes of mind are thought,while the attributes of body are extension.The mind has not extension but free will,and it is not governed by mechanical laws.The body has extension,and its movement is governed by mechanical laws.However,in order to explain the interaction between body and mind,Descartes put forward the Sympathetic theory of physical and mental in his later thought.Descartes thought that although body and mind are entities,they can interact and influence each other,and there is a kind of sympathetic interaction between them.However,this theory of sympathy contradicts the dualism on body and mind,they can not justify themself.Spinoza's theory on body and mind was put forward in order to solve the predicament of Descartes' dualism of body and mind and his Sympathetic theory.In his view,God or nature is the only entity,and thought and extension are only two attributes that can be recognized by human beings among the many attributes of God or nature.The human mind and body are the same pattern in thought and extensiveattributes,with the same causal order and the same causal relationship.This is Spinoza's theory on body and mind from the perspective of epistemology.In Spinoza's view,philosophical research was not only to acquire knowledge,but more importantly to guide people's behavior and moral practice with such knowledge.The purpose of seeking truth is to obtain goodness.Knowledge should be integrate with practice.Therefore,starting from the study of the origin and nature of emotion,he explored how to obtain the power of reason to restrain emotion,how to recognize the inevitability of nature and God's knowledge to obtain freedom,virtue and happiness of life.In order to complete such a series of argumentations and express his admiration for the emerging natural sciences and their scientific means,Spinoza also responded to Descartes' proposal on methods and tools of proof,completed the argumentation in the way of geometric argumentation in his book Ethics,and constructed a relatively complete philosophical system,which embodied its unique methodological characteristics.This paper analyzed and highlighted Spinoza's theory on body and mind from the perspective of epistemology,ethics and methodology.Throughout the world situation,peace and development have become the mainstream of the development of the times due to the surpassing development of global economy and science and technology.Human beings are more closely linked and exchanged with each other.Building a community of human destiny has become the common voice of people.However,we should see the existence of shadows in the sunshine and discordant murmurs in harmonious notes.To solve the problems of refugees,war,poverty,spiritual crisis and belief crisis,all thinkers need to actively contribute to the role of think tanks to discuss the solutions of human world problems and crises.This is also the practical value and significance of reconsidering Spinoza's theory on mind and body.