Will and Acquiescence

As the reference in the proof of V, xxvii indicates, by 'acquiescence', Spinoza means personally pleasurable 'self-approval'. Hence, for him, the intuition of God that gives rise to acquiescence is not to be confused with a moment of Schopenhauerian self-denial. Still, the nature of the selfhood that such self-approval entails is unclear. For, the personal identity of a Mode, for Spinoza, is, ultimately, an a priori idea, and the specific object of the approval is a power of action, the source of which, in his system, are impersonal adequate ideas. So, in the absence of a principle such as Will, as defined here, to explain the personal a posteriori exertion involved in the cultivation of that power, any satisfaction that ensues remains seemingly unearned.