Spinoza's theory of the equivalence of matter and mind
two aspects of the one substance
a prime facie difficulty - (perhaps not fatal - but
nevertheless worthy)
physical states - simply exist - exist - out there?
they are not 'had'
don't we say something like - thoughts are had
consciousness is had
that is - it doesn't exist 'out there'
it is possessed -
do we think of or speak of conscious states -
as being out there
rather I think the opposite - they are 'in' there
and for mine this is not just a verbal matter -
an ordinary language argument
it is a true characterization
consciousness - is in my view - the inside -
of the world
and such an argument is not necessarily an
argument against - a kind of Spinozistic
monism
but it is an argument against - one dimensionalism -
a one dimensional view of -
my view is - in this sense - dualistic - reality
has two dimensions - inside and outside - a surface
and an interior -
the interior - I say is consciousness - is mind -
the surface - the physical world
such a view - such as it is -
allows - one could say demands - as a matter of logic -
a form of monism
an inside is co-extensive with the outside -
this is a solution to the Spinozistic problem
