The Philosophical Implications of God’s Infinity From the Viewpoint of Spinoza

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

Abstract

One of the properties that in many theological traditions is ascribed to God is infinity. Philosophers and theologians often take God infinite in His both Essence and Attributes. In other words, they interpret the individuation of God to His infinity or essential absoluteness. Spinoza, the rationalist philosopher of the 17th century, is also a thinker who introduces God as the Unique Substance, and sees the Property of infinity necessary for God and so takes His Essence and Attributes to be infinite. From Spinoza’s viewpoint, describing God as infinite has some implications, including being the Former Whole, being the Immanent/ Internal Cause, and not being Supernatural. Thus, Spinoza asserts that in the theological traditions common in Abrahamic religions, God’s infiniteness attribute has not been correctly analyzed and so the relationship between God and everything other than God has been misinterpreted. In this study, using the valid sources in the realm of Spinoza studies and adopting the descriptive-analytical method, Spinoza’s thoughts in this regard are investigated.

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References

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Philosophy of Religion
Volume 19, Issue 2
July 2022
Pages 247-266

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