• News
  • The Institute
  • Fellows
  • Projects
  • Science & Society
  • Event facilities
  • Archive

Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften

Am Wingertsberg 4
61348 Bad Homburg v.d. Höhe
Tel.: 06172/139770
E-Mail: info@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de
How to find us
Legal notice
  • Home
  •  Print 

The Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften: Events

Thursday, 30 June 2022, 11:00
Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, Am Wingertsberg 4, 61348 Bad Homburg

Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften of Goethe University
Fellow colloquium

Michael A. Rosenthal (University of Toronto)
»The Model of Human Nature as a ›Being of Reason‹ (Ens Rationis)«

Abstract
In the preface to Part IV of the Ethics, Spinoza says that despite the fact that our ideas of good and evil »indicate nothing positive in things« and are just »modes of thinking,« we must »still retain these words«, because »we desire to form an idea of man, as a model of human nature which we may look to« [II/208/8-20]. Some commentators have argued that this model is based on a rational idea of human nature and is exemplified in the idea of the »free man,« which is found in a series of propositions near the end of Part IV (Nadler 2015; Kisner 2011; Youpa 2010). Others have claimed that not only is the idea of the free man incoherent but also the model of human nature is a remnant from the earlier works and is not required (Bennett 1984; Garber 2004). Both assume that the model of human nature is a rational (or adequate idea).
In this paper, I shall argue that the model of human nature is: (i) indeed an idea taken from Spinoza’s earlier works; (ii) it is not a rational idea but an imaginative one, which Spinoza somewhat awkwardly calls a »being of reason«; and (iii) that it is indispensable to understanding the ethical theory of part IV. Like the ethical terms related to it, the model of human nature is a »mode of thinking,« or, in more contemporary terms, a kind of necessary fiction (Gatens 2009; Rosenthal 2019). This does not mean that it does not bear any relation to something real. I shall also explore the question whether there is anything that really is a »human nature.« Certainly in the context of the Preface to Part IV (and elsewhere; see the Short Treatise, part 2, chapter IV [I/58]), the idea of human is closer to what Locke thought was a »forensic« term, related to our public life and the basis for moral judgment and legal liability. Moreover, as the example of the house at the beginning of Preface illustrates, the model is a part of a teleological theory of action based in the imagination in the sense that it is the end towards which we strive (Garrett 1999). Hence, it is part of a practical stance—one structured by the conatus and interpreted by our associations of ideas. But the question of course arises whether there is a metaphysical basis of this idea (Steinberg 1984; Renz 2018). Even if there is one, the model of human nature, to the extent that it is an imaginative universal, bears only an analogical and contingent relation to what is real. The interpretation of a model of human nature as a »being of reason« sets important limits on how the philosopher can use this idea in the quest for rational knowledge of his or her nature.

The speaker
Michael Rosenthal is currently the Grafstein Professor of Jewish Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He was formerly Professor of Philosophy and the Samuel and Althea Stroum Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. He teaches and publishes in the areas of early modern philosophy, ethics, political philosophy, and Jewish philosophy.
In the summer term 2022 he is, on the invitaion of Professor Thomas Schmidt and Frankfurt Institute for Research in Philosophy of Religion (IRF) and the Department of Catholic Theology of Goethe University, a fellow at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften.

Participation and registration
For participation, online or on site, please register in advance (contact: Beate Sutterlüty; email: b.sutterluety@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de). To contain the spread of COVID-19 infections we follow the »2 G rule«: You will need to provide a proof of vaccination or recovery.



Back to calendar of events
In order to provide you with the best online experience this website uses cookies. Delete cookies

In order to provide you with the best online experience this website uses cookies.

By using our website, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more

I agree

Information cookies

Cookies are short reports that are sent and stored on the hard drive of the user's computer through your browser when it connects to a web. Cookies can be used to collect and store user data while connected to provide you the requested services and sometimes tend not to keep. Cookies can be themselves or others.

There are several types of cookies:

  • Technical cookies that facilitate user navigation and use of the various options or services offered by the web as identify the session, allow access to certain areas, facilitate orders, purchases, filling out forms, registration, security, facilitating functionalities (videos, social networks, etc..).
  • Customization cookies that allow users to access services according to their preferences (language, browser, configuration, etc..).
  • Analytical cookies which allow anonymous analysis of the behavior of web users and allow to measure user activity and develop navigation profiles in order to improve the websites.

So when you access our website, in compliance with Article 22 of Law 34/2002 of the Information Society Services, in the analytical cookies treatment, we have requested your consent to their use. All of this is to improve our services. We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous statistical information such as the number of visitors to our site. Cookies added by Google Analytics are governed by the privacy policies of Google Analytics. If you want you can disable cookies from Google Analytics.

However, please note that you can enable or disable cookies by following the instructions of your browser.

  • English (UK)
  • Deutsch
All news | All events
Impressionen

Opening of the John McCloy Transatlantic Forum: Rush McCloy, Alexander Hetjes, Laura McCloy, Enrico Schleiff, John McCloy III, Bernd von Maltzan, John McCloy II, Gunther Hellmann, Charles Kupchan, Johannes Völz, Felix Hufeld, Iris Koban, Matthias Lutz-Bachmann (Photo: Stefanie Wetzel)
more...
Events | FKH

1 February 2023
Panel discussion
»Forschung und Gesellschaft. Einblicke in die Arbeitsprojekte der Wissenschaftler*innen am Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften der Goethe-Universität«
more...
News

FKH video
Lecture (in German) | »Zwischen postdigital und Tradition. Klassische chinesische Kunst im Metaversum« | Lei XUE
more...
Media response
»Familienforscherin: Existenzminimum für Kinder neu berechnen« (Interview mit Goethe-Fellow Sabine Andresen im Deutschlandfunk, 21.12.22, in German)
more...
Media response
»Conference in Israel marks official start to new Frankfurt-Tel Aviv Center« (Webmagazine of Goethe University, 20.12.22)
more...
Goethe Fellows
Interview with Darrel Moellendorf on climate justice and the climate movement
more...
Inauguration of the John McCloy Transatlantic Forum
Review: Photos, video, news articles
more...
Media response
»Vertiefender Diskurs über transatlantische Beziehungen« (UniReport der Goethe-Universität, 8.12.22, in German)
more...