tension, this *conatus* would be equivalent to (or at least analogous to) the genetic code which governs the growth and development of our bodies. Considered under the attribute of thought, this *conatus* is called *will* (E3,Pr9,Scol.). Since *virtue*, for Spinoza, is *power*, an individual, acting according to its essence, endeavors to bring about those conditions in which its power of activity is increased (See E3 Pref. and Def. 8). As rational animals, the highest good for human beings is achieved through the intellectual love of God. The *intellectual* aspect of this love is important for two reasons. First, insofar as our *understanding* of God (or Nature) according to the attribute of extension increases, we are better able to produce those physical and environmental conditions in which we can flourish; and, insofar as our understanding of God according to the attribute of thought increases, we are better able to control our emotions. Second, insofar as we find ourselves subject to adverse conditions that are beyond our control, we find consolation in our understanding of the necessity of events (see *APPENDIX "B"* which is attached to this paper). According to Spinoza, nothing is good or evil in itself but only insofar as the mind is affected by it. Because our happiness and unhappiness depends on the quality of that which we love, true blessedness is attained by loving that which is infinite and eternal--viz. all that follows from the eternal order and nature's fixed laws (*Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect* 233-235, hereafter *TEI*). Our achievement of blessedness through the *intellectual love of God* entails that we come to know and love ourselves as we are essentially. We "sin," in a manner of speaking, insofar as we desire or seem to desire that which is contrary to our essence. I say "seem to desire," because, for Spinoza, the self, considered as such, cannot desire that which is contrary to its own advantage. A...
