Will, Ethics, Theology

The Ethics begins with definitions, axioms, and propositions pertaining to the relation between God and Modes, and ends with the thesis that a Mode's intuition of God is its highest good. Presumably, therefore, Spinoza, from the outset, has an intuition of God, so, what follows is a derivation, from those fundamental formulations, of the supreme moral value of that intuition. The focal point of that derivation is the divinization of the self-preservative efforts of a Mode, so the implicit premise in the project is that God is good. Now, that premise does not distinguish Spinoza's doctrine from the fear-mongering theocracies that he opposes, but the implication of that focal point--that God would not harm a Mode--is radically heterodoxic. So, the primary ambition of the Ethics is Theological, not Moral. In contrast, with Morality as his priority, Spinoza might have emphasized how the intuition of God empowers a Mode, via the discovery of its own self-activating principle, e. g. Will.