“ No one wishes to preserve his being for the sake of anything else. ”
Baruch Spinoza, Ethics (1677). copy citation
| Author | Baruch Spinoza |
|---|---|
| Source | Ethics |
| Topic | self preservation |
| Date | 1677 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by R. H. M. Elwes |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3800/3800-h/3800-h.htm |
Context
“: therefore to act in obedience to virtue is in us nothing else but to act, to live, or to preserve one's being in obedience to reason, and that on the basis of seeking what is useful for us (IV. XXII. Coroll.) . Q.E.D.
PROP. xxv. No one wishes to preserve his being for the sake of anything else.
Proof.—The endeavour, wherewith everything endeavours to persist in its being, is defined solely by the essence of the thing itself (III. vii.) ; from this alone, and not from the essence of anything else, it necessarily follows (III.” source
PROP. xxv. No one wishes to preserve his being for the sake of anything else.
Proof.—The endeavour, wherewith everything endeavours to persist in its being, is defined solely by the essence of the thing itself (III. vii.) ; from this alone, and not from the essence of anything else, it necessarily follows (III.” source
Meaning and analysis
