  One of the motivations behind Wolfson’s view is that he considers Spinoza to be the last of the medieval Jewish rationalists, and in following with that tradition, Spinoza locates all multiplicity not in the infinite substance (God), but rather in the human mind. That is, the fact that God has multiple attributes is explained not by his having multiple essences, natures, or aspects, but rather because of the nature of the human mind. This is based on the conviction that God’s true nature is simple and any multiplicity is merely apparent but not real. It is because of the limitations of the finite mind that it attributes multiplicity to the infinite substance, when in reality the infinite substance is simple. In this view there is a gap between the attributes and the infinite substance. The infinite substance as it is in itself, so to speak, is unknowable to the finite mind. With respect to the “real distinction,” the distinction between the attributes in this view is grounded in the different ways the finite mind has of conceiving the infinite substance. That is, the distinction between the attributes is not based on the nature of the infinite substance itself, but it reveals, in a way, something about the nature of finite perception. It is in these terms that the “reality” of the distinction is to be understood, i.e., as if but not in fact.