Spinoza reconceives relationality as an ontological principle, embedding possibility within the dynamics of interdependence. For Spinoza, every being strives to persist and actualise its essence through conatus, a self-affirming activity that is inseparable from the relational field in which it exists. No entity exists in isolation; each is a node within an infinite network of interrelated modes of the one substance, God or Nature.
Possibility is thus co-determined: the potential of any individual is defined by its relations to others, and the actualisation of its capacities is contingent upon the broader, interconnected whole. Knowledge, ethics, and action all emerge from understanding these interdependencies, recognising that agency and effectivity are relational rather than atomistic.
Spinoza’s ontology extends and transforms the Aristotelian insight that potential is realised through participation in hierarchical structures. Here, however, the emphasis shifts from formal hierarchies to a monistic, interdependent web: every relational pattern constrains and enables what can occur, producing a dynamic, self-organising field of possibility.
By foregrounding interdependence as fundamental, Spinoza establishes a lineage of relational thought in which potentiality, actualisation, and ethical orientation are inseparable from the systemic web of being. Possibility is not merely a property of discrete entities; it is a feature of their mutual constitution within the relational cosmos.
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