Baruch Spinoza · Deep Essay · Chapter 02
Conatus: The Striving of a Living Being
Is conatus merely a survival instinct, or the power by which a being exists in its own characteristic way?
The short answer
Conatus is each thing's endeavor to persevere in being. In humans it includes bodily organization, imagination, desire, thought, and the search for relations that sustain and expand our characteristic capacities.
Read more deeply
The concept is broader than conscious will. The body continuously maintains itself before a decision appears, and the mind expresses that same striving in ideas. Desire is not a defect added to human nature; it is conatus insofar as we are conscious of it.
Because perseverance depends on relations, self-preservation need not mean selfish isolation. Food, knowledge, friendship, and political cooperation can increase power. The question becomes which encounters compose well with us, enabling more varied understanding and action, and which repeatedly diminish those capacities.
Context and caution
Conatus is a metaphysical concept, not an early discovery of a specific biological drive. Comparisons with modern science should be suggestive, not claims of identity.
Primary-source guide
Primary guide: Ethics III, definitions of the affects; Ethics IV–V on bondage and freedom.
Pathos Editorial · Reviewed 2026-09-12