Will, Individuation, Mode

As has been previously discussed, Individuation is a two-stage process--indefinite diversification from some given, and specification. So, for example, on the Formaterial model, Individuation in Experience consists in an exercise of Will, i. e. in Motility, in combination with some determining plan of action. Similarly, Descartes' 'I am' is an Individuation of an entity--indeterminate 'I doubt' in combination with its representation as 'thinking being'. Accordingly, Spinoza's rejection of the first stage, i. e. of spontaneous volition, entails an undermining of a possible process of Individuation, thereby rendering his notion 'Mode' problematic. For, in the absence of a theory of Individuation, his modes are Schopenhauerian illusions, not concrete expressions of his 'substance'.