Spinoza's Ethics Part 1, Proposition 7, with Deleuze's commentary

by Corry Shores
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[the following is quotation; my summary and commentary is in brackets. Deleuze’s commentary is at the end. The Latin text comes last.]

Spinoza, Ethics

Part I "Concerning God"

Proposition VII:

Prop. VII. Existence belongs to the nature of substances.

[Substances by nature exist.]

Proof.-Substance cannot be produced by anything external (Corollary, Prop vi.), it must, therefore, be its own cause-that is, its essence necessarily involves existence, or existence belongs to its nature.

[Because we cannot conceive there being another substance, and because nothing else can be the cause of substance, then substance must be its own cause. When something is its own cause, its essence necessarily involves its existence, because it is in its definition that it is caused, and it is in its definition that its cause is itself, hence it is in its essence that it exists, which means existence belongs to its nature.]

Deleuze's Commentary

Propositions 1-8: The first stage in the proof of the reality of the definition: numerical distinction not being real, every really distinct attribute is infinitely perfect, and every qualified substance is unique, necessary and infinite. This sequence obviously relies only upon the first five definitions.

(75d)

Propositions 1-8, première étape de la démonstration de la réalité de la définition : la distinction numérique n'étant pas réelle, chaque attribut réellement distinct est infiniment parfait, chaque substance qualifiée est unique, nécessaire et infinie. Cette série, évidemment, doit s'appuyer seulement sur les cinq premières définitions.

(65bc)

From the Latin:

PROPOSITIO VII

Ad naturam substantiæ pertinet existere.

Demonstratio

Substantia non potest produci ab alio (per Coroll. Prop. præced.); erit itaque causa sui, id est (per Defin. 1), ipsius essentia involvit necessario existentiam, sive ad ejus naturam pertinet existere. Q.E.D.

From:

Deleuze, Gilles. Spinoza et le problème de l'expression. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1968.

Deleuze, Gilles. Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza. Trans. Martin Joughin. New York: Zone Books, 1990.

Spinoza. Ethics. Transl. Elwes. available online at:

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/spinoza/benedict/ethics/index.html

Spinoza. Ethica. available online at:

http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost17/Spinoza/spi_eth