--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: True knowledge of good and evil as we…" description: "\"True knowledge of good and evil as we possess is merely abstract or general, and the judgment which we pass on the order of things and the connection o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/baruch-spinoza-1338_abstract_true-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-as-we-po_2442398.jpg" --- # True knowledge of good and evil as we possess is merely… ![“True knowledge of good and evil as we possess is merely abstract or general, and the judgment which we pass on the order of things and the connection of causes, with a view to determining what is good or bad for us in the present, is rather imaginary than real.” quote by Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/baruch-spinoza-1338_abstract_true-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-as-we-po_2442398.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/baruch-spinoza-1338_abstract_true-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-as-we-po_2442398.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/baruch-spinoza-1338_abstract_true-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-as-we-po_2442398.jpg) > “True knowledge of good and evil as we possess is merely abstract or general, and the judgment which we pass on the order of things and the connection of causes, with a view to determining what is good or bad for us in the present, is rather imaginary than real.” [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our judgments about good and evil are abstract and often imaginary, not grounded in reality. **In simple terms:** Moral judgments are often abstract and not real. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about morality. Themes ethics perception reality Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - moral decision making - policy analysis - personal values Key Concepts philosophy metaphysics psychology Questions to Reflect On - What makes a moral judgment real? - How can we test ethical assumptions? A Different Perspective Abstract judgments can miss concrete consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Good and evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-and-evil/) [Good evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-evil/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginary/) [Imaginary Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginary-real-498378/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Present Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-imaginary-498380/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [True knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-knowledge/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) ## Related quotes > [“The difference between imaginary and real object creates a continuos desire”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-fr-h-svendsen/the-difference-between-imaginary-and-real-object-creates-a-continuos/) [Lars Fr. 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I see no line between the imaginary and the real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/realism-is-a-bad-word-in-a-sense-everything-is-realistic-i-see-no/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [“A good novel is the biography of an imaginary person--and when the biography is completed, the person is no longer imaginary; he is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-edmund-barrett/a-good-novel-is-the-biography-of-an-imaginary-person-and-when-the/) [William Edmund Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-edmund-barrett/) > [An interlude of false innocence has passed. Today, as we enter the post-photographic era, we must face once again the ineradicable fragility of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-mitchell/an-interlude-of-false-innocence-has-passed-today-as-we-enter-the-post/) [William J. Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-mitchell/) > [Even the very youngest children already are perfectly able to discriminate between the imaginary and the real, whether in books or movies or in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/even-the-very-youngest-children-already-are-perfectly-able-to/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Actors speak of things imaginary as if they were real, while you preachers too often speak of things real as if they were imaginary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-betterton/actors-speak-of-things-imaginary-as-if-they-were-real-while-you/) [Thomas Betterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-betterton/) > [Once you realize that the world is your own projection, you are free of it. You need not free yourself of a world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/once-you-realize-that-the-world-is-your-own-projection-you-are-free/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“enjoying the danger—more imaginary than real, yet still sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-iossel/enjoying-the-danger-more-imaginary-than-real-yet-still-sweet/) [Mikhail Iossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-iossel/) > [The knowledge that mankind needs is not the way or principle which has an absolute existence, but the particular truths for here and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hu-shih/the-knowledge-that-mankind-needs-is-not-the-way-or-principle-which/) [Hu Shih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hu-shih/) > [“surely the only true knowledge of our fellow-man is that which enables us to feel with him—which gives us a fine ear for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/surely-the-only-true-knowledge-of-our-fellow-man-is-that-which/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/to-know-what-you-know-and-what-you-do-not-know-that-is-true-knowledge/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [ “Skills (learning) or lack of skills is all egoistic knowledge (ego based knowledge). 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