Will and Passivity

While in common parlance, 'passive' means 'inactive', for Spinoza, it means 'partially active', i. e. in definition II of book III of the Ethics, he asserts that being passive means "being only the partial cause". This concept of passivity thus entails that all behavior includes at least some contribution that originates in the performer, the degree of which can vary indefinitely, as the qualifier 'partially' connotes. Here, that irreducible variable factor is Will, i. e. even the most deeply ingrained habit is at least partially voluntary. For Spinoza, that factor is conatus, which is independent of its degree of contribution to some specific course of behavior.