ABSTRACT
This chapter elucidates the metaphysical basis of Spinoza's theory of power in the attributes. It provides a full appreciation of the attributes and their function as organizers of natural right. The chapter shows how the attributes may be properly considered events of God or Nature, a theoretical construct that is immanent to every singular thing in act, and the key to understanding power and thus right. It examines the Cartesian problematic of the ontological status of force, the framework of generation offered by Spinoza's Dutch contemporaries. The chapter discusses Spinoza's reworking of the Cartesian problem through the attributes, and also shows how the attributes of thought and extension operate as active organizers of the causal order of the world. The Cartesian starting point is clear enough that concepts are God-made and innate. The chapter highlights some issues in the Cartesian philosophy of particular pertinence to Spinoza's theory of the attributes.
