Spinoza
“I think therefore I am-Descartes;” “All noble things are as difficult as they are rare- Spinoza.” Decorates and Spinoza are unique; they are like nothing this class has studied previous. They focus on nature, existence and power as the fundamental building blocks to their unique philosophies. The beauty of these two men’s philosophies is not only in their contrasts but in all the ideas the students can draw from their logically thinking strategies; ultimately creating an individual philosophy and bettering ones own life from it. They both use logic but the use of language is the “wild card” that allows the real questioning to happen. Spinoza and Decorates are masters at using concrete facts and twisting them in such a way so as to question their existence entirely. Almost like one is pressing the reset button on life and starting fresh. The best example I can give is our day-to-day class discussion. Previously our tangents have been focused and connected. But with Spinoza and Decorates they have been different. They have become sporadic, wide spread, and eye opening. Yes the focus has and will always remain to be on the ideals that these men present; but the beauty in these philosophies are not restricted to just their points. The beauty lies within what the student (since we are all students’ not philosophy kings yet) can question and provide. This paper will discuss all the points crucial to these two men’s philosophies; however, throughout the paper the tangents I will draw will reveal my own conclusions that I have been taking note off from our class discussion in order to shed some light on the impact these philosophies have had to myself and philosophy itself. First thing that this paper will cover, and the biggest topic of debate between the two is the dialectic about the mind and body. Descartes is a substance duelist. He believes substance is divided into two things: mind substance and body substance. They are also independent entities in his eyes. In