206 THE WORLD-ENEBGY 



itself in the sense of rendering itself concrete, actual. 

 Hence, in affirming itself the World-Energy negates itself 

 in a twofold sense. First, it negates its own identity so 

 far as that may be regarded as a blank, abstract identity. 

 Secondly, it unfolds negation as a necessary factor of its 

 own concrete identity in so far as the phases of its own 

 self-differentiation or self-determination present the char- 

 acteristic of mutual exclusion. Here, indeed, there is 

 brought to light the true meaning of the dictum, omnis 

 determinatio est negatio; a meaning, however, which 

 Spinoza himself seems not to have fully apprehended as 

 belonging thereto. 



A glance through what immediately precedes will make 

 it evident that in our discussion of the doctrine of the 

 conservation of energy, we are already approaching the 

 question of the nature of cause. It is to the direct 

 discussion of this that we have now to turn. 



