15. Spinoza on Theocracy and Democracy

Abstract

Spinoza's discussion of theocracy in the Tractatus theologico-politicus is generally interpreted as being directed against Dutch Calvinist ministers. In this chapter, the author argues that Spinoza's theocracy is in fact a primitive, although perhaps the only viable form of democracy; moreover, that, according to Spinoza, the Jewish state, which is his historic example for a theocracy, collapsed not because it was based on religion but because of the relations between the tribes; and, finally, that, apart from being a reaction to Hobbes, Spinoza's reconstruction of the history of the Jewish state serves as a metaphor for Dutch political history. This reading of the Tractatus theologico-politicus leads to a reconsideration of the Orthodox Calvinist position. The fact that Spinoza insists on the tribal structure of the Jewish nation is further evidence that Israel serves as a parable of Dutch political history. Keywords: democracy; Dutch Calvinist ministers; Dutch political history; Hobbes; Israel; Jewish state; Spinoza; theocracy; Tractatus theologico-politicus