Univocity and Intuitive Science in Spinoza

Abstract

This paper seeks to investigate the Spinozist theory of knowledge. The starting point of my argument is a reading hypothesis that connects the univocity of the real with intuitive science. The aim is to demonstrate that the cognoscitive access provided by the third genre of knowledge is the only means to attain knowledge of the totality of Nature. Accordingly, the paper shows, on the one side, that both imagination and reason provide us only with incomplete and biased knowledge of the real. On the other side, it shows that—notwithstanding their shortfalls—these cognoscitive perspectives are authentic and true, and are present in the third genre of knowledge. Finally, the paper shows the coherence of the Spinozist system and its proposal of intuitive science—knowledge of the unity underlying all perspectives—as the human ethical destiny.