ABSTRACT
Baruch Spinoza’s theory of substance is a reprise of the Eleatic doctrine on being as the one-and-all. G. W. F. Hegel made the well-known judgment that ‘thought must begin by placing itself at the standpoint of Spinozism; to be a follower of Spinoza is the essential commencement of all philosophy’. Spinoza’s philosophy serves admirably in this verificational process. His total work is sufficiently complex and unified to put a general theory to the test and, reciprocally, to receive some additional illumination from the effort. Although Spinoza never held an institutional professorship, he devoted himself to developing, clarifying, and teaching his philosophy to others. Spinoza distinguishes between hearsay and memorative acts, experiential grasp of objects, the way of inferential reasoning, and peak intuition. In the former work, Spinoza recognizes the formation of some human model which is superior to one’s present weakness, and which will serve as an intermediate goal and spur to self-improvement.
