Will, Conatus, Reason

Spinoza seems to conceive the relation between human Conatus and Reason in two ways. In the first, all behavior, passive as well as active, endeavors to persist in its being, for which rational calculation functions as the most effective means. In the second, rational behavior alone actualizes that endeavor, so Conatus and Reason are identical. Accordingly, Democracy can be conceived as promoting Rationality in either of two ways--as the best means to the harmonization of the satisfaction of the needs of its participants, or as a coordination of the performances of all. In contrast to both, here, the fundamental Conatus is not merely to survive, but to Evolve, for which collectivity is the opportunity not for mere co-existence, but for interaction, the potential for which Democracy optimizes. In that context, Reason is a mode of Will that has been previously termed 'Examplification', whereby one projects oneself towards all, thus producing the concept of oneself as an objective member of a collective. In other words, this concept of Reasoning does not accept, as Spinoza's more traditional one does, its transpersonal character as given, but as a product of a transcending projection that originates in the private dimension of personal experience. On that concept, Reason is one of the fundamental constituents of human Conatus.