Routledge History of Philosophy Volume IV

MORAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF SPINOZA 289
INTRODUCTION
Political philosophy may well be seen as one of the most important topics in
Spinoza’s philosophical system, as far as modern Spinoza research is concerned.
This is also evident from Spinoza’s own principles as a philosopher. I remind the
reader of some of these central convictions. First of all, he proferred the view—
in his writings, the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect and the Short
Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being—that the realization of philosophy’s
goal is a social activity (TDIE 14; KV XXVI, 10) (for the abbreviated form of
titles etc. see the list of abbreviations at the end of Chapter 8). Not only do
people need each other in their quest for truth, but also specific conditions have
to be fulfilled for this quest to be pursued in a successful way: peace, security
and toleration. Not by accident, then, did Spinoza postpone the writing of his Ethics
in the mid-1660s to complete the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, published in
1670. In this, his first publication on politics, Spinoza opens with a forceful
attack on superstition and the belief in signs and all kinds of insincerity that put
prejudices ahead of rational analysis. He seems to be confident that the causes of
these dogmatic hindrances of philosophical enquiry should be looked for in the
political order. As is well known, the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus concludes
with a dramatic plea for tolerance. But before reaching this peroration, the social
and political reality is discussed and central conceptions like ‘power’, ‘right’,
‘reason’, ‘belief’ and ‘passion’ have their intermingled relations disentangled and
are employed to a further understanding of the meaning and limits of sovereign
power.
The central contentions of Spinoza’s political philosophy itself point to its
relevance in the overall philosophical system. Freedom, being the core concept
of the Ethics, refers as by logical necessity to the social and political conditions
of its realization. How far is the individual’s freedom hindered or enhanced by
power relations between men? Can man be free in a society that is not free? Can
a society be arranged in the interest of the promotion of freedom of its members?
The answer to these and related questions necessitates a perspective on individual
self-determination and social determination, as well as on their interaction. How
do we understand the bonds that tie and relate men? What about laws,
ordinances, rights and power? What is their origin, what their legitimacy, what
their effect?
These interests led Spinoza to write a second treatise on politics, the Tractatus
Politicus. In this posthumously published work, he discusses the several forms of
government, their principles and most rational practical application. In this book
is evident again Spinoza’s conviction that philosophy is inherently a social
affair. As in his involvement in religion, tolerance and the state in the Tractatus
Theologico-Politicus, here again Spinoza takes issue with contemporary opinions
and debate as he found it in the Dutch Republic. He comes forward as an
‘interventionist’ who wants to change not only philosophy but political practice