SPINOZA: A FOUNDING FATHER OF WESTERN “MONISM”

“MONISM” WAY OF THINKING THAT BOTH MIND AND BODY ARE THE SAME THING DIFFERENTLY EXPRESSED.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS:  We know God exists, and he is infinite.  If He is infinite, he cannot have boundaries.  If He cannot have boundaries, there cannot be anything that God is not.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS  Because He cannot be one entity and the world another, God must be co- extensive with everything there is.  Whether we describe anything in the abstract or in material, this is merely two different ways of describing the same reality.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS  We should never obsess with personal problems; if we look at the totality of things we will find them to be insignificant.  Balance, perspective, toleration, and freedom of speech are keys to human nature.

KEY QUESTION: CAN THERE BE FREE WILL IF EVERYTHING IS DETERMINED BY BEING “PART OF GOD?”

KEY QUESTION: IF YOU CAN DRAMATIZE A PERSONAL PROBLEM OF ADOLESCENTS WHAT WOULD IT BE? HOW MIGHT YOU RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM BY CONSIDERING IT, IN THE TOTALITY OF THINGS, INSIGNIFICANT?