Spinoza is carefully outlining the limitations of the human mind and its larger role. His primary insight is to highlight the mind's natural tendency to preeminence over the body - both in terms of knowing the body and God. Instead, he has established that the mind is rooted in the body and does not know except insofar as its role in the body as perceiving the modifications of the body. Recognizing our tendency to imagine greater roles, he highlights this limitation and identifies its accuracy as in God or not. Basically, he addresses the argument that our mind should thoroughly understand the functioning of the body. However, such a degree of knowledge of the body does not constitute the nature of the human mind, i.e., many minds function perfectly without such understanding. Where minds require ideas in order to function properly, Spinoza characterizes as "in God."
Mens se ipsam non cognoscit nisi quatenus corporis affectionum ideas percipit.
Translated as,
The mind does not understand itself unless insofar as it perceives the ideas of the modifications of the body.
DEMONSTRATIO: Mentis idea sive cognitio (per propositionem 20 hujus) in Deo eodem modo sequitur et ad Deum eodem modo refertur ac corporis idea sive cognitio. At quoniam (per propositionem 19 hujus) mens humana ipsum humanum corpus non cognoscit hoc est (per corollarium propositionis 11 hujus) quoniam cognitio corporis humani ad Deum non refertur quatenus humanæ mentis naturam constituit; ergo nec cognitio mentis ad Deum refertur quatenus essentiam mentis humanæ constituit atque adeo (per idem corollarium propositionis 11 hujus) mens humana eatenus se ipsam non cognoscit. Deinde affectionum quibus corpus afficitur ideæ naturam ipsius corporis humani involvunt (per propositionem 16 hujus) hoc est (per propositionem 13 hujus) cum natura mentis conveniunt; quare harum idearum cognitio cognitionem mentis necessario involvet; at (per propositionem præcedentem) harum idearum cognitio in ipsa humana mente est; ergo mens humana eatenus tantum se ipsam novit. Q.E.D.
Translated as,
The idea of the mind or its understanding (by IIP20) follows in God in the same way and refers to God in the same way as the idea of the body or its understanding. But since (by IIP19) the human mind does not understand the human body itself, that is (by IIP11C) since the understanding of the human body does not refer to God insofar as it constitutes the nature of the human mind; and thus the understanding of the mind does not refer to God insofar as it constitutes the essence of the human mind and to such a degree (by the same IIP11C) the human mind does not understand itself so long. Next the ideas of the modifications by which the body is affected involve the nature of the human body itself (by IIP16), that is (by IIP13) they coincide with the nature of the mind; thus the understanding of these ideas involves the understanding of the mind necessarily; but (by IIP22) the understanding of these ideas is in the human mind itself; thus the human mind knows itself only to that extent.
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