ABSTRACT
In many respects, Benedict Spinoza's systematic philosophy in the Ethics is the most beautiful, perfectly ordered picture of the universe and humans' place in it. Every aspect of every dimension of human experience is consistently explained in terms of the greater whole. For Spinoza, to explain something is to know its cause, that which not only brings that being into existence but also makes that being just what it is and not something else. The key to Spinoza's moral theory and thus to his attitude towards environmental concerns can be found in his theory of ideas. Corresponding to each level of knowledge or class of idea, there is an ideatum or 'object' of that same idea; degrees of rationality and degrees of reality must be linked at every stage. Spinoza's reflections on morality are 'important for striking a balance between a submissive, amoral attitude towards all kinds of life struggle, and a shallow moralistic and antagonistic attitude'.
