‘The word “substance” can be interpreted as “that which something consists of,” or that which something basically is or can be reduced to. Descartes operated then with two of these substances. Everything was either thought or extension. ‘However, Spinoza rejected this split. He believed that there was only one substance. Everything that exists can be reduced to one single reality which he simply called Substance. At times he calls it God or nature. Thus Spinoza does not have the dualistic view of reality that Descartes had. We say he is a monist. That is, he reduces nature and the condition of
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