Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
A geometric reconstruction of Descartes — Spinoza's only work published under his own name during his lifetime, and the methodological forerunner of the Ethics
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Principles of Cartesian Philosophy (Early (Spinoza's first published work)) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
The historical moment of mid-seventeenth-century Cartesianism reaching its full institutional dominance.
Space
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
The Cartesian intellectual space within which Spinoza positions himself — initially as expositor, increasingly as critic.
Matter
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
Cartesian res extensa as the material domain; Spinozan modes-of-extension as the deeper account.
Observer
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
Cartesian res cogitans as the thinking observer; Spinozan modes-of-thought as the deeper account.
Energy
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
The deductive-geometric energy of careful proof; the institutional energy of seventeenth-century philosophy publishing.
Information
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy
The propositions of Cartesian metaphysics in geometric form; the Cogitata's departures from Descartes as supplementary information.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Spinoza's preface explicitly disclaims agreement with Descartes's views, but the geometric form so closely resembles the mature Spinozan method that early readers (and the work's contemporary opponents) often missed the disclaimer. The book was Spinoza's only public-philosophical exposure during his lifetime; the works he considered his real expression — the Theological-Political Treatise (1670, anonymous) and the Ethics (1677, posthumous) — were either disowned or held until after his death.