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148. - Political Treatise

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Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

Karolina Hübner
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Justin Steinberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

Unfinished and overshadowed by the Ethics and the TTP, Spinoza’s TP is nevertheless a major work. The TP establishes the basic principles of Spinoza’s political thought, identifies “the highest end” at which a commonwealth can aim, and outlines the institutional structure most conducive to security and peace for several regime types. It is somewhat surprising that the TP is relatively neglected by commentators, given that, as Edwin Curley observes, it “offers us the materials for a much deeper understanding of Spinoza’s political philosophy than we could gain from his other works” (2016a, 491). Given that it was Spinoza’s final work, cut short by his untimely death, it contains his most mature philosophical views on the subject of politics. Pierre-François Moreau, editor of several French editions of Spinoza’s writings, claims that it is also his most “autonomous” work, comprising the views that are most his own, developed independently of the natural law traditions and Cartesianism (2005, 79).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Recommended Reading

Balibar, E. (1998). Spinoza and Politics, Trans. Snowden, P.. Verso.Google Scholar
Curley, E. (1996). Kissinger, Spinoza, and Genghis Khan. In Garrett, D. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza, 1st edn (pp. 315–42). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Den Uyl, D. J. (1983). Power, State and Freedom: An interpretation of Spinoza’s Political Philosophy. Van Gorcum.Google Scholar
Field, S. L. (2020). Potentia: Hobbes and Spinoza on Power and Popular Politics. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matheron, A. (1969). Individu et communauté chez Spinoza. Éditions de Minuit.Google Scholar
Melamed, Y., and Sharp, H. (eds.). (2018). Spinoza’s Political Treatise: A Critical Guide. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreau, P.-F. (2005). Notice sur la reception du Traité politique. In Spinoza, Oeuvres, vol. v: Traité Politique, ed. Ramond, C. (pp. 7779). Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Sharp, H. (2022). Spinoza on the fear of solitude. Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, 11, 137–52.Google Scholar
Steinberg, J. (2018). Spinoza’s Political Psychology: The Taming of Fortune and Fear. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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