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Experiments in Philosophy
Spinoza’s Anti-Ethics
The Geometric Method Applied in Diametrical Opposition to Spinoza’s Ethics
In the spirit of philosophical inquiry, this treatise aims to be the antithesis to Spinoza’s magnum opus, “Ethics.”
While Spinoza employed the geometric method to present a deterministic, monistic worldview in which God and nature are one, this work takes the same methodological approach to argue for a fragmented cosmos, highlighting the significance of individual entities and their distinctiveness.
Indeed, the following treatise makes of God and nature two distinct entities within a cosmos of atomic entities and substances — and makes of Ethics the negation of one’s own self-perseverance for the sake of others.
This account does not represent my philosophical views but is instead an experiment in philosophy by utilizing the capabilities of GPT-4 (which, as a student of Spinoza’s philosophy, I guided to the best of my ability) to reason according to the geometric method in a manner that runs counter to one salient way it has been used previously in history.
If there is any philosophical view I have obtained through this experiment, it isn’t to be found within the below treatise. My view can be summed up as follows…
