A estabilidade de ânimo na obra ética, de Benedictus de Spinoza

Abstract

The ontology of the Dutch philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza (1632-1677) in the work Ethics, is constituted by the notions of substance (God), attributes, and modes. A substance is selfproduced and producer of all things, it manifests through two of its infinite attributes, or thought and the extension of two of its infinite modes, mind, and body. Thus, humankind is a finite mode of God, constituted of mind and body and the attributes, thought, and extension. With this, he is determined by God to operate in a certain and determined manner, and it is subject to affections, which diminish its power to act and think, and he can be a servant and be unhappy and unstable, because of his ignorance of the causes of things. In this sense, man has no free will, for God alone is a free cause, because he is not constrained by anyone. However, man can participate in the divine freedom through the knowledge of the causes of things, that is, of knowledge of himself, of his affections, of the exteriors causes, and God's things. Thus, this research aims to discuss the stability of man's mind, to demonstrate how he can achieve it, based on the thought of the Dutch philosopher. To do so, we develop as methodology the interpreting of the central themes of the Ethics, to identify the instability of mind and, at the same time, to understand the importance of achieving stability and, finally, to indicate the elements necessary to achieve it. We also conducted a bibliographic review of commentators who, despite not addressing the topic of stability of mind, deal with the most relevant themes of the aforementioned work. We conclude that stability of spirit is a state of tranquility and acceptance of the setbacks of life, which man can achieve through his acquisition of the knowledge of the causalities of things, understanding that everything has a necessary and determined cause, that is, that there is no contingency in nature.