The Concept of Causa sui in Spinoza

Abstract

This paper aims to elucidate the meaning of causa sui in Spinozas philosophy. The first philosopher who used this concept in a positive way was not Spinoza but Descartes. However, Spinoza was the first and the only philosopher who separated its use from the discourse of proving the existence of God, and so detheologized it. The term causa sui in the first part of Ethics signifies three things: First, it criticizes the transcendence of God; second, it provides the basis for immanent causality; third, it shows the non-reflexiveness of God or Nature