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Spinoza's PSR as a Principle of Clear and Distinct Representation
Author(s) -
Schneider Daniel
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pacific philosophical quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1468-0114
pISSN - 0279-0750
DOI - 10.1111/papq.12019
Subject(s) - premise , philosophy , interpretation (philosophy) , axiom , epistemology , representation (politics) , mathematics , linguistics , law , geometry , politics , political science
It is argued first, that S pinoza's P rinciple of S ufficient R eason ( PSR ) is best seen as an auxiliary premise and not as an axiom of the E thics ; second, that S pinoza held the PSR to be a self‐evident truth that indicates a necessary condition for clearly and distinctly representing the existence or non‐existence of a thing; and third, that this interpretation of S pinoza's PSR explains the near absence of the PSR within the demonstrations of the E thics as well as the importance of the principle in S pinoza's thought.