Spinoza on the Nature of God
Participating in Collective Empowerment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3308642 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Robert Bagby (0000-0001-5790-2062, California Institute of Integral Studies, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 1256 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16101256 |
| OpenAlex | W4414672420 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
God plays a central role in Spinoza's philosophy, directly shaping his views of ethics and politics. His theology is examined in light of contemporary perspectives in process philosophy. Analysis of the claim that "The more we understand singular things the more we understand God" (E5p24), shows that Spinoza advances a participatory theology that prioritizes a developmental process that fosters loving-kindness and intellectual generosity. Religion is the virtue enabling our participation in divine power. The key characteristics of participation in divine power are that these powers are (1) non-scarce/open-source/sharable, (2) regenerative, (3) propagate from one context to another, and (4) potentiate novel, unforeseeable discovery and invention. It is through community with other singular beings and via social affects that we understand divinity: by participating in powers that are sharable and continue to intensify and evolve when made openly accessible. His ideas can inspire our current problematic in beneficial ways
Citizen journalism · Empowerment · Virtue · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Political Theology and Sovereignty · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |