''Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione'' (''Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect'') is an unfinished work of philosophy by the seventeenth-century philosopher

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

, published posthumously in 1677.

Summary

The ''Tractatus'' was first published in 1677, the year of

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

's death, by some of his closest friends, along with other works including the '' Ethica'' and the '' Tractatus Politicus''.Ludovico Geymonat, "Storia del Pensiero Scientifico e Filosofico" (History of Science and Philosophy). Garzanti, 1970. It is an attempt to formulate a philosophical method that would allow the mind to form the clear and distinct ideas that are necessary for its perfection. It contains, in addition, reflection upon the various kinds of knowledge, an extended treatment of definition, and a lengthy analysis of the nature and causes of doubt. He discusses, among other topics,

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

experience Experience refers to Consciousness, conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience i ...

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...

, and

forgetting Forgetting or disremembering is the apparent loss or modification of information already encoded and stored in an individual's short or long-term memory. It is a spontaneous or gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from ...

Themes

Spinoza commenced this treatise with the intention of examining the problem of knowledge, but the work was never completed. In his other works epistemological discussions are intimately linked with the rest of his philosophy. Indeed, even in the ''Treatise on the Improvement of the Understanding''

epistemological Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowled ...

views are almost inseparably connected with ethical ones. That is the consequence of his characteristic

conception of knowledge Definitions of knowledge aim to identify the essential features of knowledge. Closely related terms are conception of knowledge, theory of knowledge, and analysis of knowledge. Some general features of knowledge are widely accepted among philosoph ...

. For Spinoza "knowledge" is "life", not in the sense that contemplation is the highest life, but in the sense that knowledge is the means of holding together the threads of life in a systematic unity that can fill its proper place in the cosmic system. There are two things which must be borne in mind in connection with Spinoza's conception of knowledge. The first is his insistence on the ''active'' character of knowledge. The ideas or concepts by means of which thought constructs reality are not like "lifeless pictures on a panel"; they are activities by which reality is apprehended; they are part of reality, and reality is activity. The second point is that Spinoza does not divorce knowing from willing. Man always acts according to his lights. If a man's endeavours appear to fall short of his knowledge, that is only because his knowledge is not really what it is held to be, but is wanting in some respect. On the one hand, reason, for Spinoza, is essentially the "

practical reason In philosophy, practical reason is the use of reason to decide how to act. It contrasts with theoretical reason, often called speculative reason, the use of reason to decide what to believe. For example, agents use practical reason to decide whet ...

". On the other hand, the highest expression of willing is experienced in that striving for consistency and harmony which is so characteristic of reason.

English translations

* 1884 by R. H. L. Elwes, an abriged version in the second volume of ''The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza'' (George Bell & Sons, London). * 1958 by Joseph Katz (The Library of Liberal Arts, New York). * 1985 by Edwin Curley, in the first volume of ''The Collected Works of Spinoza'' (Princeton University Press). * 2002 by Samuel Shirley, in Spinoza's ''Complete Works'', with introduction and notes by Michael L. Morgan (Hacket Publications).

References

Bibliography

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External links

*
Project Gutenburg website, online copy of ''On the Improvement of the Understanding (Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect)'' by B. Spinoza

{{Authority control 1662 works Works by Baruch Spinoza Treatises