Spinoza — Freedom through understanding, not an uncaused will

If every action has causes, can understanding those causes make us freer?

Evidence-backed account

For Spinoza, a human mental action is not free in the sense of being determined by an undetermined faculty of will.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

Spinoza's Psychological Theory
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Introduction; Ethics IIp48
Open source

Yet he allows degrees of freedom insofar as action follows from one’s nature and adequate understanding rather than external interference.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

Spinoza's Psychological Theory
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Introduction; §3 Human Freedom
Open source