The Different Origins of the Affects in the Preface to the Theological-Political Treatise and in the Ethics

Abstract

Once Spinoza's thought has been situated with respect to Descartes, it is necessary to understand the stages of how the concept of affect is constructed in his corpus. The aim of Chapter III is to compare and contrast the relevant texts in the Preface to the Theological-Political Treatise and in the Ethics in order to measure the evolution of Spinoza's thought. This approach is divided into three parts: – The principles of the comparison between the affects in the Preface to the Theological-Political Treatise and in the Ethics – The origin and definition of the affects in the Theological-Political Treatise – The differences between the Theological-Political Treatise and the Ethics Whereas the Theological-Political Treatise offers an analysis of the affects in the historical context of humankind living under the guardianship of theological and political authorities, the Ethics approaches the affects geometrically, and studies them like lines, surfaces, and bodies, removed from historical context. Beyond this methodological approach, a more and more dynamic conception of the affects is gradually sketched out. Whereas in the Theological-Political Treatise affect is essentially passive and contrary to reason, the Ethics establishes a new approach by distinguishing action-affects from passion-affects, thus ceasing to systematically pit the affective and rational worlds against one other.