Spinoza's Dark Triad - Essence - Conatus - Desire

Most of us feel like we're a mess of competing impulses: the motivated you, the lazy you, the guilty you. Spinoza? He slices through that with laser precision. You're one thing, expressed in three ways: essence, conatus, and desire.

First, essence. It's not your personality or stories—it's your core structure, the blueprint of your mind and body. What makes you react, grow, or recover. It's the unchangeable "you" beneath the noise.

Then conatus—your essence in action. Spinoza calls it the drive to persevere in being. Not ambition, just pure existence in motion. Your heart beats, thoughts flow, body adapts. Even "doing nothing" is conatus maintaining you. As he says in Ethics III, Prop. 6: "Each thing strives to persevere." And Prop. 7: This striving is your actual essence. No gap between being and doing.

Now, desire: That's conatus lit up by consciousness. Every emotion—joy, fear, longing—is desire in disguise. It's your striving, guided by ideas. Feel hungry? That's conatus bodily. Imagine food? Mind shapes it. Want it? Desire kicks in.

"Desire is the essence of man, determined by affections." —Spinoza.

Are they the same? Yes ontologically—one force like a flame's structure, burn, and heat. But no in explanation: Essence is metaphysical, conatus physical, desire psychological.

Why care? It means self-sabotage isn't against yourself—it's misguided preservation. Desires reveal your power level. Change ideas, change desires. Freedom? Aligning them with your true nature.

Practical tip: Stop fighting. Clarify ideas to straighten desires. No more "I don't know what I want"—it's confused ideas, not essence.

Final thoughts: Spinoza's triad is your map to agency. Understand your power, and desires become coherent. That's freedom.

For more of this kind of post, sit tight and clutch your seat — it’s a scary ride:

If you enjoy this, please subscribe to my channels on Patreon and Substack and please buy my translation of Spinoza's Ethics to support my work.

Substack: https://substack.com/@debsahoy
Patreon:   / debbiebutler  
Spinoza's Ethics: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR4R9TW5

For more in-depth analysis of this and other topics:
Negative Philosophy & Martin Butler
Patreon:   / martinbutler  
Substack: https://substack.com/@martinbutler
Martin Butler's Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Martin-...

For deeper work, join the Deconstruction mentoring path or access extended sessions through Patreon.