Theological-Political Treatise Research Articles

The Unrest of the Enlightened Self: The Scope of Human Action in Spinoza

My aim in this paper is to examine some of the distinctive facets of human action in Spinoza’s philosophy and show their intrinsic connection with each other. By analyzing in detail how Spinoza addresses different aspects of human action in his main work, the Ethics, it is possible to notice that for him free human agency implies two interrelated features: on the one hand, the adequate knowledge of the causes that determine it, and, on the other hand, a growing capacity to impact with greater power the scenarios in which it takes place. Thus, in contrast with quietist and passive readings, I show in the following that the two aforementioned characteristics are part of the Spinozian philosophical conception of agency as such. By pursuing this line of thought, it is also possible to establish a link—not always noticed in the secondary literature—with some of the central lines of thought contained in the Theological-Political Treatise. In discussing these theses, I advance the idea that the Spinozian conception of human agency involves a serious readjustment of the metaphysical vision of the agent, a change in her conduct and ethical practices, and an altogether different conception of politics and religion.

A Diagnosis of Cartesian Atheism

Abstract The present paper analyzes Petrus van Maistricht’s (1630–1706) critique of Baruch Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise found in his Novitatum cartesianarum gangraena (1677). The paper shows, first, that Mastricht regarded Spinoza’s atheism as the inevitable outcome of the Cartesians’ denial of philosophy’s subordination to theology. Second, Mastricht, in refuting Spinoza, revised his earlier critique of Cartesianism. In his previous work, Mastricht had already pointed out the atheistic implications of Cartesianism, but in the Gangraena he could now clearly identify Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise as the atheistic consequence of Cartesianism. He was thus able to confirm his distinctive diagnosis of Cartesianism as a gangrene that would gradually worsen and eventually destroy the entire body of theology.

Truth and Justice in Spinoza’s Theological–Political Treatise and the Ethics

Spinoza’s philosophy argues for the freedom of individuals as singular beings in the state. This freedom is not perfect yet immanent. Freedom—according to the Ethics—is a consequence of true knowledge and virtue, which must be able to develop and can only be realised gradually. The state and the laws establish the framework that makes this freedom possible. Freedom and true knowledge are basic concepts of the metaphysical system. Justice, however, appears as a legal and political concept in Spinoza’s thought, which the philosopher did not discuss in depth. Nevertheless, the concept of justice has a specific significance in the philosophical context in which it occurs in the TTP—especially in the wisdom of King Solomon—and in the Ethics. Justice, on the one hand, strengthens harmony, security, and freedom. On the other hand, the freedom to philosophise forms a condition for justice to develop according to reason. The knowledge that justice has a importance in Spinoza’s thought is consistent with the complexity of his philosophy and makes its understanding more complete.

Fighting for Exploitation As If It Were Rebellion

In the Theological-Political Treatise, published in 1670, Spinoza asked why people “fight for their servitude as if for salvation.” In doing so, he foregrounded the affective dimension of despotism, putting forward the idea that servitude is not just passively endured but passionately strived for—something people want and will. Three hundred years later, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari repeated this formula in Anti-Oedipus, arguing that it was the central question of political philosophy. They read Spinoza through Wilhelm Reich, stating that the astonishing thing is that “those who are exploited are not continually out on strike.” In doing so they shifted the political question from domination to exploitation. Following Deleuze and Guattari, I argue for an updated version of the question, asking why people fight for exploitation as if it were rebellion. Asking this question involves reexamining the way in which the critique of religion is the antechamber of the critique of political economy in Marx, and is the thread connecting Spinoza to Marx. Finally, I argue that reframing the question in terms of rebellion and exploitation is useful in making sense of contemporary forms of right populism that present themselves as rebellion, but actually deepen the domination of capitalism over our lives.

Spinoza’s Critique of Religious Intolerance

This article presents a new interpretation of Spinoza’s account of religious intolerance. According to Rosenthal and Steinberg Spinoza explains the origins of religious intolerance in two ways. The first is in the Ethics, which is grounded on the affect of ambition; the second in the Theological-Political Treatise, which is based on the opposed affects of fear and hope. I agree with this interpretation, yet I considerably modify and supplement this account. The interpretation I propose rests on the observation that in order to understand Spinoza's view we need to draw the subtle distinction between the explanation of the psychological causes of religious intolerance and the elucidation of why religious intolerance appears to appeal so much. First, I shall discuss Spinoza’s account of the origin of religious intolerance. Second, I shall consider the measures which, in his view, should be taken in order to curb religious intolerance effectively.

Beyond Tolerance? Spinozist Proposals on Preferences and Justifications

The term “tolerance”, strictly speaking, does not belong to Spinoza’s vocabulary, and the notion of “tolerance”, in its modern sense, is not part of his concepts either. However, the separation of theology and politics, which is the subject of the Theological-Political Treatise, envelops an even more radical separation between immanence and transcendence. An entirely immanent policy would be indifferent to “values” and “justifications” of any kind (moral, religious, rational). It would be based only on the “accounts” of individual “preferences”. We show that Spinoza’s philosophy can help us conceive (perhaps one day achieve) such a form of radical, or “absolute” democracy.

Spinoza’s Defense of Toleration: The Argument From Pluralism

Spinoza’s bold, spirited defense of toleration is an animating theme of the Theological-Political Treatise (TTP) and an important reason for the significant historical impact of the text. But Spinoza’s arguments for toleration can be challenging to discern. True to its title, the TTP offers two main arguments for toleration, one political, the other theological. This paper argues that Spinoza’s theological argument for toleration is closely connected to a distinct and often overlooked argument from pluralism. This paper examines Spinoza’s argument from pluralism and defends that it is more attractive to similar arguments for toleration offered by Bodin and Bayle. It is more attractive than Bodin’s pluralism argument because Spinoza’s allows that religious beliefs and doctrines of faith have a rational justification, which makes possible a more optimistic picture of the prospects for religious disputation. Spinoza’s pluralism argument is also more attractive than Bayle’s argument because Spinoza’s does not regard religious beliefs as justified by sincerity, which means that he does not need to recognize any problematic rights of erroneous conscience, nor is he forced to accept as justified sincere beliefs in persecution or obviously immoral or irreligious beliefs.

"Ab placito humanum" and the Normativity of Human Laws in the Theological-Political Treatise

"Ab placito humanum" and the Normativity of Human Laws in the Theological-Political Treatise

The Freedom of Religion Is a Divine Idea

In this essay I examine the concepts of democracy and religion as devel­oped by Baruch Spinoza and Jacques Derrida. In taking up the argument for the relationship between philosophy and theology that Spinoza makes central to his Theological-Political Treatise, I undertake to show that, in separating philosophy (what he calls natural knowledge) from theology, Spinoza demonstrates that they are equally based upon moral principles that advocate for the autonomy of all human beings. I also in­voke Spinoza's distinction between religion and superstition before turn­ing to Chapter 16 of the Theological-Political Treatise, in which Spinoza demonstrates that political democracy does not have its origin in the state of nature but in the articulation of moral laws that are at once divine and human. Just as the origin of religion is not supernatural for Spinoza, so the civil state does not have its source in the natural evolution of human beings but in a respect for the rights and freedoms of all persons. In developing my argument, I make use of Derrida's concept of religion as well as his notion of the promise of democracy in order to continue to show that the source of both religious concepts and the democratic state in modernity is neither natural nor supernatural but moral. Through­out my paper, then, I point out the relationship between the values that underpin the concepts of religion and democracy for these two thinkers. Consequently, I undertake to show as the overall argument of my paper that biblical religion (as conceived by Spinoza) is democratic in principle in the beginning and that the principles of modern democracy (the rights and freedoms articulated in democratic states, including the freedom of religion) are religious unto the end.

Repentance and God's Pardon in Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise: On the Truth of Doctrine 7 of Universal Faith

Repentance and God's Pardon in Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise: On the Truth of Doctrine 7 of Universal Faith

Spinoza, Before and After the Rampjaar

ABSTRACT Up to 1670, when the Theological-Political Treatise was published, Spinoza supported Johan De Witt’s government, against the House of Orange and the orthodox Calvinists. By 1676, while writing the Political Treatise, that fight had been lost, and Spinoza was now positively opposed to the sovereign of his country. Scholars argue that the violence that marked the intervening “year of disaster” of 1672 saw security prioritised in the Political Treatise, where the Theological-Political Treatise had focused on freedom. This essay contests this view. Analysing the Political Treatise’s response to contemporary events, and comparing the two books, it sees the Political Treatise as less concerned than the earlier text with the stability of the sovereign, and more concerned with the subjects’ freedom from oppression by the sovereign: more than a dispassionate treatise on the organization of the state, it is a plea for the role of the ordinary citizen, written in response to authoritarian times.

Эссе Бродского «Дань Марку Аврелию» как богословско-политический трактат

The “Shestov – Brodsky – Spinoza” triangle reflects the major philosophical ad­venture of the twentieth century – the demise and rebirth of critical reason. In his critique of Spinozism for eliminating the possibility of free will, Brodsky follows Lev Shestov, the most ardent opponent of Spinoza. In his two essays, The Condi­tion We Call Exile (1986) and Profile of Clio (1993), the poet argued that hu­man beings should stop being just “rattling effects” in the “great casual chain of things” and “try to play causes”. In contrast, in the essay Homage to Mar­cus Aurelius (1994), Brodsky defended Spinoza’s autonomous ethics against Shestov’s Judeo-Christian morality. Unlike Shestov, Brodsky refuses to believe in the “partiality” of God and His wish and ability to save those who called out for Him from the lowest pits. Instead of Christian attachment and love, the poet preferred Stoic detachment and impartiality, without siding with a party, a creed, or a doctrine. According to Brodsky, “history is the domain of the partial”, yet, “it’s not history that defines the good”. In his opposition to partiality, Brodsky fol­lows Spinoza’s logic for “Theological-Political Treatise”.

Spinoza on Melancholy and Cheerfulness

AbstractSpinoza's philosophy is often celebrated for its strong anti-normative current. Spinoza argues, for instance, that good and bad do not indicate anything positive in things, and that affects are always particular to the situation in which they arise. And yet Spinoza argues that melancholy is “always evil,” and cheerfulness “always good,” thus problematizing a key metaphysical principle of his system. Turning to select sections in the Ethics and Theological-Political Treatise, this article offers a reading of these two problematic affects before connecting Spinoza to recent work on early modern melancholy that conceptualizes it as an ‘assemblage.’

The Reception of Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise in the Islamic Republic of Iran

In the form of a case study and based upon novel material about the reception of Spinoza’s Theological–Political Treatise (TTP) in Iran, this paper studies issues with the interactions among political, theological and philosophical ideas in the reception of Spinoza’s TTP. The paper starts with the first Iranian encounters with Spinoza’s philosophy in the Qajar era in the nineteenth century and then focuses on the reception of the TTP in the period after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The first translation of the TTP was prepared in the 1990s by Muḥsin Jahāngīrī, but he withheld the manuscript from being published. I discuss the arguments that led him to withhold the publication of his translation; in this context, it will be important to consider the tumultuous religious and political debates, and broader questions as to the legitimacy of political power will also prove relevant. The first doctoral dissertation in Persian about the TTP will be described, followed by a description of a digital translation of the twentieth chapter of the TTP, which was published after the 2009 election protests. The article ends with discussing translator Ali Ferdowsi’s motivation to produce the first complete Persian translation of the TTP, published in Tehran in 2017. In conclusion, it will be discussed to which extent the theocratic political context in the country caused interest in the TTP.

Jacob Gordin and the Anti-Spinozist Legacy of Hermann Cohen in France

Hermann Cohen is often described as the last in a line of German idealist, or Jewish rationalist, thinkers. This article, instead, takes Cohen as a point of departure, tracing his distinct form of anti-Spinozism which was transmitted to France by the Russian émigré philosopher of religion Jacob Gordin. It considers the engagements by Cohen, Leo Strauss, and Gordin with Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise, and examines the role an essay by Gordin played in bringing Cohen's view to francophone Jewish audiences and in defending Cohen's reading of Spinoza against Strauss's critique. The article then treats the postwar redeployments of Gordin's essay by Emmanuel Levinas and the historian of anti-Semitism Léon Poliakov against the Zionist and Spinozist views promoted by David Ben-Gurion. Attention to the overlooked centrality of Gordin demonstrates the importance of Russian intelligentsia as carriers of Cohen's legacy, highlights the presence of Cohen's anti-Spinozist views in postwar French and French Jewish thought, and introduces another site within the reception history of Spinoza in the twentieth century.

The Tractatus Theologico-Politicus and the Dutch: Spinoza’s Intervention in the Political-Religious Controversies of the Dutch Republic

This paper outlines the Dutch background of the Tractatus theologico-politicus (TTP) and aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the Theological-Political Treatise. It reads Spinoza’s first main work published anonymously as an intervention in the many political-religious controversies, which began in 1579 and ravaged the Dutch Republic during the first century of its history. The three main topics of these controversies are also the focus of the TTP: I. the freedom to philosophize; II. the relation between Church and State, and III. the nature of public religion, which is defined by a minimal creed. These topics were familiar to the contemporary Dutch reader. The TTP appears to give a theoretical account of what theological-political practice was in the days of Spinoza.

Legal Theory and the Problem of Machine Opacity: Spinoza on Intentionality, Prediction and Law

In this paper I will approach the problem of machine opacity in law, according to an understanding of it as a problem revolving around the underlying philosophical tension between description and prescription in law and legal theory. I will use the problem of machine opacity, and its effects on the lawmaker’s activity, as a practical backdrop for a discussion of the associations upheld by legal theory between law’s normative ideals and its preferred, normatively neutral, method for achieving these. My discussion of this problem will provide a preliminary answer to the question whether it is machine opacity - by introducing an unfamiliar kind of intentionality into the legal sphere which disturbs the predictability of law - that renders the contemporary lawmaker’s job difficult, or, whether this difficulty indeed comes with the lawmaker’s job description. I will turn to early rationalist Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677) and particularly his explanation of law in the Theological Political Treatise (TTP) for analytical assistance in my discussion.

Œuvres vol. IV: Ethica/Éthique by Baruch Spinoza

Reviewed by: Œuvres vol. IV: Ethica/Éthique by Baruch Spinoza Steven Nadler Baruch Spinoza. Œuvres, vol. IV: Ethica/Éthique. Texte établi par Fokke Akkerman et Piet Steenbakkers. Traduction par Pierre-François Moreau. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2020. Pp. 670. Paper, €29.00. The world of Spinoza scholarship has seen a number of remarkable achievements in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. There was the publication of an expanded, two-volume edition of Jakob Freudenthal's Die Lebensgeschichte Spinozas (1899) by Manfred Walther and Michael Czelinski in 2006, an indispensable resource for documents related to Spinoza's life and writings. Then there was the stunning discovery by Leen Spruit in 2010 of a manuscript of Spinoza's Ethics in the Vatican Library—the first (and so far only) extant copy. Most important of all, however, is the project under the general direction of Pierre-François Moreau and the auspices of the Groupe de Recherches Spinozistes, and published by the Presses Universitaires de France (PUF), of a new, truly critical edition of Spinoza's texts (accompanied by French translations on facing pages). The multivolume Œuvres de Spinoza is intended to supplant Carl Gebhardt's four-volume Spinoza Opera. Gebhardt's was the standard edition through the twentieth century, and remains so for Spinoza's works and correspondence not yet produced in the PUF series. Gebhardt's edition had its advantages over the earlier, mostly German editions in the nineteenth century (when the first complete Spinoza editions appeared), including those by Paulus (1802–3), Bruder (1843–46), and (the standard edition for forty years, until Gebhardt) Van Vloten and Land (1882–83). With all due respect to and appreciation for Gebhardt's accomplishment, however, his is not a true critical edition. Moreover, as scholars have long known, it has its flaws. Thus, the new PUF edition will, once completed, be the standard edition for generations. Until now, there were three volumes: I. Premiers Écrits (includes the Tractatus de intellectus emendatione [Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect] and the Korte verhandeling van God, de mensch en deselvs welstand [Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being]); III. Tractatus theologico-politicus (Theological-Political Treatise; TTP); and V. Tractatus politicus (Political Treatise). For quite some time, scholars have anticipated the volume in the PUF series devoted to the Ethica, Spinoza's most important philosophical work. The wait is now over, and I am happy to report that their patience has been amply rewarded with a magnificent critical edition. The Latin text is established by the late Fokke Akkerman and Piet Steenbakkers; the authoritative, thoughtful French translation is by Moreau. Spinoza published only two works in his lifetime: his presentation of parts 1 and 2 of Descartes's Principia philosophiae, accompanied by the Cogitata metaphysica (1663), and the TTP (1670, published anonymously). It was not until after—in fact, immediately after—Spinoza's death in February 1677 that his friends set to work preparing his unpublished writings for publication. From the manuscripts they inherited from the philosopher, including his autograph copy of the Ethica, they brought out, in late 1677, the Latin Opera posthuma (OP) and the Dutch De Nagelate Schriften (NS). There have been quite a few editions of the Latin Ethica since Gebhardt, many of which were based on his text. The problem with all of these editions, whether they took their lead from Gebhardt or went directly to the OP, is that their only source was that OP text, along with the Dutch translation in the NS. They did not have access to the Vatican manuscript, which Spruit and Pina Totaro published in 2011 (the only exception is the second edition of Paolo Cristofolini's bilingual, Latin/Italian Etica [2014]). As Moreau and Steenbakkers (M/S) note in their superb and thorough introduction to this volume, the Vatican copy is of the utmost importance in producing a critical edition of the Ethica, as is a proper understanding of the relationship between the Latin text in the OP and the Dutch version in the NS. Spinoza began the Ethica sometime between mid-1662 and early 1663. He put what was then a three-part work aside in...

Immanuel Kant and Herman Cohen’s philosophy of religion

The article analyzes the main characteristic features of the philosophy of religion of the founder of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism Hermann Cohen. Special attention is paid to Cohen’s criticism and reinterpretation of Kant’s “practical philosophy” from the point of view of the philosophy of religion: Cohen supplements and expands Kant’s provisions on moral law and moral duty, interpreting them as divine commandments. The authors emphasize the fundamental importance for Cohen of the “internal similarity” between Kant’s ethical teaching and the main provisions of Judaism. The sources of Kant’s own ideas about the Jewish tradition are shown, which include the work of Moses Mendelssohn “Jerusalem” and the “Theologicalpolitical treatise” by Baruch Spinoza. Cohen’s criticism of these works is analyzed an much attention is paid to the consideration of Cohen’s attitude to Spinoza’s philosophical legacy in general. The interpretation of the postulates of Judaism by Cohen (and their “inner kinship” with Kant’s moral philosophy) in ethical, logical, and political contexts is presented. Cohen’s understanding of such religious-philosophical and doctrinal phenomena as law, grace, Revelation, teaching, the Torah, messianism, freedom, the Old Testament and the New Testament, etc. is provided and analyzed. The main points of Cohen’s religious teaching as “ethical monotheism” are considered; in particular, the authors analyze his understanding of the idea of God as “the only one”, which is highlighted in the works of Paul Natorp. It is concluded that Cohen’s philosophy of religion, which is based on the postulates of Judaism as well as Kant’s “practical philosophy”, could be characterized by the terms “ethical monotheism”, “universalism” and “humanism”.

A ARGUMENTAÇÃO DO TRATADO TEOLÓGICO POLÍTICO E AS TENSÕES INERENTES AO PROJETO SECULAR MODERNO

Resumo: No Tratado Teológico Político Espinosa lança as bases do projeto secular de separação religião/vida pública que caracterizará grande parte da política da Idade Moderna e Contemporânea no Ocidente. Este projeto porém é marcado por uma série de tensões, que se podem já delinear na obra de Espinosa. Este artigo busca descrever a argumentação espinosiana do Tratado, individuar e explicitar os seus conceitos principais e apontar algumas das tensões ainda operantes no projeto secular, resultantes da argumentação filosófica que tal projeto emprega desde o seu início, como a obra de Espinosa nos permite ver.
 Palavras Chave: Espinosa; Tratado Teológico Político; secularismo; liberdade; religião; política