INTRODUCTION BRAD S. GREGORY Until now those interested in Spinoza have lacked an adequate English translation of the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. ...

This new and complete translation of Spinoza's famous 17th-century work fills an important gap, not only for all scholars of Spinoza, but also for everyone interested in the relationship between Western philosophy and religion, and the history of biblical exegesis.

On many interpretations of Spinoza’s political philosophy, democracy emerges as his ideal type of government. But a type of government can be ideal and yet it can be unwise to implement it if certain background conditions obtain. For example, a dominion’s people can be too ‘wretched by the conditions of slavery’ to rule themselves. This begs the following question. Do Spinoza’s arguments for democracy entail that all political bodies should be democracies at all times (the received view), or do they (...) merely entail that we should only have a democracy when the right sort of background conditions are in place (the challenging view)? This paper argues that a new interpretation of one of the four versions of the rationality argument for democracy as it features in the Tractatus entails that the received view is correct. The paper also explains away part of the appeal of the challenging view by arguing that none of the other versions of the rationality argument supports the received view. It closes by arguing that a slightly modernised version of the rationality argument can be important for contemporary political philosophy. (shrink)

The first complete English translation of Spinoza's Tractatus theologico-politicus was published anonymously in London in 1689 under the title A treatise partly theological and partly political, though prior to it Charles Blount had incorporated a liberal translation of chapter 6 of the Tractatus in his Miracles no violations of the laws of nature. The language employed in the 1689 translation suggested a decidedly political intention for the work and thus certain liberties were taken with the text. (...) Since that time there have been translations of passages or chapters from the Tractatus into English. Most recently, A. G. Wernham has translated and edited selections from the Tractatus theologico-politicus and Tractatus politicus in The Political Works of Spinoza. Still, the standard source for English language readers of Spinoza has been R. H. M. Elwes's two-volume translation of The Works of Spinoza, published originally in 1883 and reprinted without emendations in 1951. His translation, however useful, is far from adequate and the appearance of Samuel Shirley's translation of Spinoza's Tractatus is most welcome. (shrink)

O presente texto tem como objetivo apontar algumas das razões pelas quais Spinoza foi considerado um herege. Acreditamos que as três principais razões que colaboraram para essa interpretação do seu pensamento estão contidas mais explicitamente no _Tratado Teológico Político_ do que em sua principal obra filosófica, a _Ética_. Ademais, o _Tratado Teológico Político_ teve maior alcance entre o vulgo, pois era o objetivo de Spinoza que a obra tivesse a maior repercussão possível e influenciasse no conflituoso cenário político e religioso (...) de sua época, ao mesmo tempo em que a _Ética_ permanecia confinada entre as mãos dos seus amigos e leitores mais próximos. (shrink)

The contention in this paper is that the theological-political disputes Spinoza was concerned with 350 years ago are similar to the conspiratorial disputes we experience today. The world in Spinoza’s Tractatus theologico-politicus, a political intervention in his time, serves as a “mirror image”, that is to say, it deals with the same problem we face today albeit in a different mode. Understanding our contemporary condition under the auspices of a Spinozist perspective, problems in countermeasures to the conspiratorial (...) disputes come to light. Scholarly work and practice focus on the epistemological dimension of conspiracy theories, tying in the extent to which they are problematic to the degree in which they deal in untruth. However, the lesson from Spinoza’s analysis of the theological-political disputes is that such theories do not deal in truth, but, in affect, they do not spring from a lack of education but a lack of certainty. The work of Spinoza opens up a different approach, and if our aim is like that of the TTP, to defend political life against the threat of civil war, such a different approach is in order. (shrink)

In his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, Spinoza seeks to separate religion from philosophy and from politics. Yet the true metaphysical understanding of God remains relevant to a proper grasp of the state for Spinoza. Through identifying a common logical structure underlying Spinoza’s conception of God and the two subjects of the TTP - the relation of faith and reason, and the origin of the state and its relation to individual citizens – the paper attempts to demonstrate that Spinoza’s argument (...) for the autonomy of secular reason and the secular state in the TTP is inseparable from his metaphysical theology. (shrink)

At his death, Spinoza left two major works, very different from one another. The first is the Ethics, rigorously set out in geometrical terms, with definitions, axioms, and theorems. In the Ethics, Spinoza takes the reader down the path of reason to an ultimate beatitude, a rational salvation, a kind of peace of mind attained through the true knowledge of God, oneself, and one's place in the world. The other is of a very different sort. The Tractatus theologico- (...) class='Hi'>politicus is set out in twenty chapters. It begins with a discussion of prophecy and revelation, followed by a detailed description of Scripture, and what we can learn from it, the message of scripture. And that message is to be obedient to God, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Two books, two styles of argument, two very different paths to salvation, arguably two Gods and arguably two very different kinds of kinds of salvation at the end. But one author. The challenge is evident: how do these books fit together? One is about reason, the other about revelation, one is about personal salvation, the other more focused on how we live together. Spinoza's writing has always drawn strong reactions, both positive and negative: he was accepted by some as a kind of secular prophet offering us a guide to life, and rejected by others as a kind of atheist and heretic. In this book, a diverse international group of seventeen scholars confronts these two central works in the philosophical canon, and explores what Spinoza is trying to tell us about life, the world, and our place in it. (shrink)

Examining the philosophical, theological, and political teachings of the Tractatus theologico-politicus, this book proposes that Benedict Spinoza fashions a ...

Dans cet ouvrage, nous nous proposons de parcourir le Tractatus Theologico-Politicus de Spinoza afin de donner au lecteur philosophe tous les éléments susceptibles de l'aider à saisir la place des citations bibliques dans cette œuvre, ainsi que ses conséquences sur la pensée philosophique de l'auteur. D'autre part nous voulons montrer au lecteur hébraïsant l'utilisation que Spinoza a faite des sources bibliques au sens large, mais traditionnel. Nous utiliserons également la grammaire de l'Hébreu que Spinoza a laissé inachevée (...) : Compendium Grammatices Linguoe Hebroeoe, Abrégé de Grammaire Hébraïque, publié dans les Opera Posthuma, 1671. Nous tenterons une approche de son œuvre en dehors des luttes et des passions que son seul nom inspire, lui qui sa vie durant s'écartera par tous les moyens des combats de son époque afin de pouvoir accéder à la connaissance vraie qui seule apporte le bonheur. (shrink)

Historia, as both a type of critical inquiry and a source of information about nature and the human world, is a key category in Spinoza’s Tractatus theologico-politicus. In this work, the Latin word cannot be simply and invariably translated as “history,” not even if we add the proviso that its meaning wavers inevitably between “history” and “story,” for its semantic range is too broad and complex. At the two ends of the semantic spectrum we have the impartial (...) report, on the one hand, and the creations of sheer fantasy, on the other. Historia may therefore denote the detached observation of nature and the philological analysis of a text, but it can also refer to the free exercise of the imagination in a variety of narrative contexts. While Spinoza denies that the inquiry resulting from historia and its products may have true cognitive value, he acknowledges that historia plays a fundamental role in society and politics. The reason is that historia and the imagination are bound up together by a special relationship. This is apparent at all levels of the historical engagement with reality, but is particularly true in the case of religion, moral norms and belief systems, for in this variegated domain the link between imagination and historia functions as the connective tissue that keeps societies united and functioning. This specific nexus of imagination and historia is Spinoza’s original contribution to the early modern notion of “moral certainty.” More importantly, it is only at this level that Spinoza grants a modicum of intelligibility to the ‘historical’ productions of the imagination, be they signa, revelationes, or even nugae. The fact remains, though, that to a certain extent humans keep having a distorted grasp of reality, indeed hallucinate, even when their ‘historical’ accounts of reality are socially and politically productive. Here the key element is the notion of fictional continuity based on a socially constructed trust in narrative accounts of reality: the imagination turns reality into stories, but in so doing it keeps the otherwise constitutively hallucinatory nature of humans at bay and under control. Perceptibilitas, that is, the ability to provide acceptable cognitive solutions between intelligible knowledge and moral certainty, is ultimately what defines the contribution of the imagination to the human work of knowledge. (shrink)

This volume analyzes in detail Spinoza's reasoning in Tractatus theologico-politicus, identifies allies and enemies in its historical context, and explores its more or less obvious connection with the Ethica.

This study analyses Spinoza’s Tractatus theologico politicus from the point of view of the confrontation between revealed Scripture and philosophy, and links it with the history of this confrontation in Maimonides and the Arab philosophers, highlighting similarities and differences. The three key points of the analysis are the following: Salvation through philosophy; Salvation through religion; and the guarantor of Salvation: political power.

Vertaling (verkorte versie) van en commentaar op de wijsgerige verhandeling van de Nederlandse filosoof (1632-1677) over de betekenis van het christendom.

ONE OF THE MOST VEXING AND PERSISTENT ISSUES among students of Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-Politicus is the question of the work’s intended audience. Determining the audience of the TTP is critical not only for judging the work’s tone but also for assessing its purpose and scope. Despite the importance of this issue, Spinoza offers little help in resolving the question of his intended audience. Indeed, after outlining the argument of the work in the preface, he playfully dodges the (...) question of audience. (shrink)

In this contribution, I discuss some less well-known premodern and early modern antecedents of Spinoza’s concepts and claims in the _Tractatus Theologico-Politicus_. On the one hand, I will argue, Spinoza’s notion of prophecy owes more to Moses Maimonides than to any Christian author; and through Maimonides, Spinoza may be linked to the discussion of prophecy in _The Virtuous City_ by the tenth-century Islamic philosopher al-Farabî. Spinoza’s concern with prophecy as a popular formulation of the Divine Law may be fruitfully (...) seen in the light of these two authors. On the other hand, Spinoza’s notion of _pietas_ has arguably been shaped by a number of early modern authors from the Low Countries, including Thomas a Kempis and Erasmus: it does not consist in merely obeying the law, but also has a clear devotional and theist dimension of love for God and for one’s neighbors. As such, it may be associated with recent ideas on philosophy and spiritual exercises. These findings have a number of non-trivial implications for Spinoza’s place in the rise of modern, academic Western philosophy. I will discuss these implications in the context of Pierre Hadot’s influential views on philosophy as a way of life and Michel Foucault’s notion of spirituality. (shrink)

This paper treats a recalcitrant problem in Spinoza scholarship, namely, how to reconcile the conception of 'power' in his political writings with that found in his Ethics. Some have doubted the capacity of Spinoza's political philosophy to yield an adequate normative theory. If he is unable to provide a normative ground for political philosophy then perhaps this exposes a problem in Spinoza's philosophy taken as a whole. I argue that the considerable normative resources of his ethical and political philosophy, as (...) well their continuing relevance today, are best appreciated through attending to his notion of the exemplar. (shrink)

스피노자가 자신의 정치적 관점과 분석을 기술한 『신학정치론』과 『정치론』은 상당한 분량을 여러 형태의 국가형태(군주정, 민주정, 신정, 과두정 등) 간의 비교 및 각 국가형태의 헌정제도에 대한 분석에 할애하고 있지만, 정치제도학자로서 스피노자의 모습은 그간 활발히 논의되지 못하였다. 본 논문은 『신학정치론』에서 스피노자가 수행한 고대 히브리 국가의 신정 제도에 대한 분석을 재구성하면서, 그가 히브리 국가의 제도와 역사에서 민주공화정의 제도에 대한 어떤 교훈을 도출했는지를 탐구한다. 스피노자는 종교와 정치의 분리가 불가능하다고 보며, 종교적 제도들이 오히려 대중의 정치적 역량과 단합을 증진시킬 수 있다고 주장한다. 그러나 이를 위해서는 종교 엘리트의 (...) 권력을 제한하고, 다양한 종교 사이의 조화를 유지하는 정책이 필수적임을 강조한다. 논문은 신정 체제의 안정성이 정치적, 사회경제적 평등과 권력의 분배를 제도화하는데 성공했다는 점에 기인한다고 결론지으며, 스피노자의 히브리 신정 분석이 근대 민주주의에 주는 시사점을 모색한다. (shrink)

This paper argues that Spinoza's main political writings are concerned, in part, with knowledge of essences as detailed in the Ethics. It is further argued that knowledge of the essences of states, and essential properties that belong to states, may be an example of the elusive scientia intuitiva or third kind of knowledge. The paper concludes by considering Spinoza's goals in his political writings and the importance of metaphysics and the theory of knowledge more broadly for early modern political philosophers.