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Conatus

Philosophy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Conatus is Spinoza’s term for the innate striving of each thing to persist in its being. It signifies life’s self-affirming impulse.

Detailed Definition
In poetry, conatus manifests as resilience, desire, or vital energy—even in despair. Poets capture this drive through dynamic verbs, organic metaphors, or unresolved tension, portraying existence as perpetual effort. The concept lends philosophical weight to poems celebrating endurance amid adversity or decay.
Example
Example in poetry:
John Clare’s nature poems assert conatus through persistent observation despite confinement; Emily Dickinson’s “I dwell in Possibility” frames poetic form as vital striving; Walt Whitman’s catalogs in “Song of Myself” enact life-force through expansive listing; Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” reclaims self-assertion through repeated resurrections; Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies portray angels as pure conatus beyond human limitation; Louise Glück’s “The Triumph of Achilles” shows endurance as tragic yet necessary striving.
Additional Notes
Conatus, from Spinoza’s Ethics, is the striving (conari) by which each thing endeavors to persist in its being. It’s not will but immanent drive—life affirming itself. In poetry, conatus appears as resilience: Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” rising again, or Clare’s nature poems written from asylum. It’s distinct from will-to-power (Nietzsche) in its impersonality: even stones have conatus. Useful for ecopoetry or trauma poetry where persistence isn’t heroic but ontological. Professors can contrast it with finitude or facticity to explore how poems balance determination and limitation.
Also Known As
Striving Endeavor Drive
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