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Recovering the Soul: Interpreting Baruch Spinozaâ•Žs Doctrine Of University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2007 Recovering the Soul: Interpreting Baruch Spinoza’s Doctrine of Mind-Body Identity in the Light of Thomas Aquinas’s Metaphysical Theory of Form and Matter Guy Stephen Blakemore University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Blakemore, Guy Stephen, "Recovering the Soul: Interpreting Baruch Spinoza’s Doctrine of Mind-Body Identity in the Light of Thomas Aquinas’s Metaphysical Theory of Form and Matter. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2007. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/123 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Guy Stephen Blakemore entitled "Recovering the Soul: Interpreting Baruch Spinoza’s Doctrine of Mind-Body Identity in the Light of Thomas Aquinas’s Metaphysical Theory of Form and Matter." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Philosophy. Richard E. Aquila, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Sheldon M. Cohen, Kathleen E. Bohstedt, Thomas E. Burman Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Guy Stephen Blakemore entitled “Recovering the Soul: Interpreting Baruch Spinoza’s Doctrine of Mind-Body Identity in the Light of Thomas Aquinas’s Metaphysical Theory of Form and Matter.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Philosophy. Richard E. Aquila Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Sheldon M. Cohen, Ph. D Kathleen E. Bohstedt, Ph. D Thomas E. Burman, Ph. D Acceptance for the Council: Linda R. Painter Interim Dean of Graduate Studies (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) RECOVERING THE SOUL: INTERPRETING BARUCH SPINOZA’S DOCTRINE OF MIND-BODY IDENTITY IN THE LIGHT OF THOMAS AQUINAS’S METAPHYSICAL THEORY OF FORM AND MATTER A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Guy Stephen Blakemore May 2007 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Carolyn Berg-Blakemore, without whose support, encouragement, and dialogue I would not have been able to pursue doctoral studies or complete this project, and to my four sons, Isaac, Jonathan, Jesse, and Ian, who have believed in their dad even when he was not sure he could finish the course. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Recognizing my debts, I wish to express, first of all, my deep gratitude to Richard E. Aquila for his incredibly helpful guidance as my dissertation director. He first introduced me to Spinoza’s philosophy, and made Spinoza comprehensible to a fledgling philosophy student. His philosophical rigor and subtlety as a thinker challenged me to sharpen my own reasoning about the issue I have argued in this dissertation. In addition to Dr. Aquila, I want to thank Sheldon Cohen, not only for his gracious willingness to continue on my committee even after taking an early retirement, but also for opening up Thomas Aquinas’s thought to me. Also, my gratitude is expressed to Dr. Kathy Bohstedt for her input in my thinking about issues related to philosophy of mind. Dr. Thomas Burman, of the History Department, has my thanks for helping me in the matters of Latin translation and interpretive nuance that were involved in the writing of this dissertation. Beyond these four persons who directly engaged my work, I must express my appreciation to some other significant persons. First, Dr. John Hardwig, who is Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, took an interest in my success, even without being personally acquainted with me. For his encouragement and the very concrete administrative aid he provided me in being able to continue my work as a student and “finish the course,” I say thank you. Second, I would be remiss not to acknowledge my former professor, Ralph C. Wood, of Baylor University, who has been an intellectual mentor for over a decade and a half. Last and most of all, I would like to thank my wife and children for the many hours they allowed me to put into this dissertation. Those were hours I was not at home being husband and father. They also have my deepest love. iii ABSTRACT This dissertation analyzes the doctrine of mind-body identity in Baruch Spinoza to discover if there is something in his metaphysical doctrine that is analogous to the way that Thomas Aquinas views the nature of the relationship between mind and body in human beings. The argument put forth in this work is that Aquinas’s hylomorphism, in which the human soul is the form of the human person, both bodily and mentally, is echoed in Spinoza’s doctrine of the conatus. No dependence upon Aquinas is implied in this comparative study, but merely the argument that the ways that Spinoza and Aquinas conceive of the mind-body relationship specifically, and human existence more broadly, have some very interesting parallels that have not been observed sufficiently by other interpretation of their work. Furthermore, it is a part of the purpose of this dissertation to suggest that the ways that Spinoza and Aquinas analyze the nature of human existence in the universe, especially organic existence, can provide helpful insights that could enrich contemporary philosophy as it tries to work, in conjunction with modern science, to understand the way that mind and body are present in human beings. The study is divided into six chapters which provide the following steps in the argument. The first chapter introduces the problems related to the subject of mind and body in both Spinoza and Aquinas, establishing the parameters of the research. Chapter two looks at the Aristotelian background of hylomorphism and argues that it is still a philosophically respectable theory. Aquinas’s further development of the doctrine of hylomorphism beyond Aristotle’s own foundational theory is the focus of the third chapter. Chapter four turns to Aquinas’s discussion of the nature of mind and body iv identity. The next chapter deals substantively with Spinoza’s doctrine and in a preliminary way points to the affinity he has with Aquinas’s doctrine. Chapter six points explicitly to their similarities and shows how each of them argued for the immortality of the human “soul.” In this chapter, suggestions are made as to how Spinoza and Aquinas can be dialogue partners in contemporary philosophy of mind. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. ON BEING RATIONALLY ALIVE: WHY COMPARE THOMAS AQUINAS AND BARUCH SPINOZA ON MIND-BODY ............1 The thesis of this project .........................................................................................1 Secondary source considerations ............................................................................6 The contribution of this project .............................................................................11 A summary of the argument .................................................................................13 Contemporary relevance of this project ................................................................31 The procedure of the project .................................................................................35 2. HYLOMORPHISM: THE ESSENCES THAT ENABLE SUBSTANCES ....................................................................................................37 An overview of Aquinas’s theory .........................................................................39 Aristotelian background ........................................................................................44 Substance and accidents ............................................................................44 Actuality and potency ...............................................................................46 The pre-Socratic background of Aristotle’s metaphysics .....................................47 Aristotle’s counter-proposal ..................................................................................50 Logic of change and unity .........................................................................50 Foundations of act and potency ................................................................56 Form and matter ........................................................................................61 Hylomorphism as coherent and compelling .........................................................69 Summary ...............................................................................................................77 3. AQUINAS’S VERSION OF HYLOMORPHISM ...........................................79 Essences, identity
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