Some Remarks on Spinoza's Concept of Potentia Spinoza’s Ethics is, at its core, a philosophy of power or potentia — the ontological and immanent power of being, acting, persevering, and affecting or being affected. Conceptually distinct from the juridical and institutional power (potestas) detailed in the Theological-Political Treatise and the Political Treatise, potentia signifies the causal power intrinsic to existence itself. Potentia or being-able-ness Potentia derives f