RE: The most horrifying journey, this is what doubting 'everything' does.
April 3, 2018 at 10:04 am
(April 3, 2018 at 9:28 am)MysticKnight Wrote:Quote:If a thing can be conceived as not existing then its essence doesn’t involve existence."And of course it wrong. Nothing can be conceived of not existing, the default is existence, and existence encompasses everything and witnesses it itself, before the creation of things through his words.
What about a magical bunny rabbit who grants wishes? You can't conceive that as "non-existing." Keep in mind, Spinoza is not saying that anything that can be conceived of as nonexisting doesn't exist. He just means that existence is not in its essence.
For example, when Sheila comes home for Thanksgiving and starts telling them about her new boyfriend, her family begins to conceive of this boyfriend as "not existing" due to some of her antics in the past. In this instance, however, they are wrong. Sheila really did have a boyfriend. And after they meet him in person the following July, they admit to each other privately that they were mistaken about her boyfriend's existence. However, they also agree amongst themselves that, during the whole affair, none of Spinoza's axiomatic truths were rendered invalid.
