Good, you've uncovered Spinoza making an absurd argument as well:
In the Mind there is no absolute, or free, will, but the Mind is determined
to will this or that by a cause which is also determined by another, and this
again by another, and so to infinity.
However, Spinoza argues, we still ought to strive to understand the world around us, and in doing so, gain a greater degree of power, which will allow us to be more active than passive, and there is a sense in which this is a kind of freedom.
Which is it? Either minds are determined by this or that cause or not and if they are we can't "ought" to do anything. If our minds are determined by causes we don't even know, much less control, we don't have the capacity to "ought." |
