ABSTRACT
This chapter begins a reinterpretation of the second kind of knowledge, with a special emphasis on how it is related to the first and the third kind. It relies primarily on Ethics II, with occasional reference to other of Spinoza's works, and to his often tacit polemics with Descartes. The first thing to notice about the second kind of knowledge is that, indeed, it must always come second. Knowledge never starts with adequate ideas; Man's original cognitive stance is necessarily sense-perception, and hence, according to Spinoza, error. The first kind of knowledge is based on mind echoing the world-network from the particular spot that body happens to occupy within it. He tries to anchor the second kind of knowledge as much as possible in the domain of the first kind, which is important for "situating" reason within nature and, again, for avoiding abstraction.
