Spinoza's Argument Against the Doctrine Essay

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After all, if there is an infinite God, then it becomes easy to assume that he is an all-powerful God. If there is an all-powerful God, it is difficult to argue against the idea that he controls every action, which would be an argument in favor of final causation. Spinoza's challenge to the idea of final causation and even an argument against the idea of something like predestination comes down to the notion that it is impossible to give human motivations to God or nature. The problem with that argument is that it is impossible to know God's motivations. They may be so different from human motivations that humans cannot contemplate cause and effect on a divine level. However, it is also possible that God's motivations are very human. The problem with Spinoza's argument that human beings cannot define or limit God is that, in the argument, he is actually defining or limiting God. That apparent contradiction appears to be the greatest weakness in his argument.

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However, if one takes all of the premises of Spinoza's argument as incontrovertible truths, his argument against final causation appears much more appealing. It certainly seems that an infinite God with no end could not possibly be planning things with the goal of establishing final causation. Furthermore, when one looks at the examples that modern people have attempted to use for final causation, it appears that Spinoza is correct in arguing that proponents of final causation have reached that position because of ignorance. Hurricanes, floods, drought, and other natural disasters have all been attributed to God's will because of unhappiness with some unrelated human event. For example, a famous minister suggested that the horrific flooding of New Orleans that came with hurricane Katrina was the result of God's unhappiness with homosexuality. When one sees the real-life arguments that are made in favor of a final causation explanation, Spinoza's arguments against the doctrine become much more relevant and convincing......

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