New Perspectives on Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise

Dan Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at the Open University. He specialises in political theory and British politics. He’s the author of three books including Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom (Edinburgh University Press, 2021), and Island Story: Journeys Through Unfamiliar Britain (shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2017). In 2023 he was awarded the title BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. Marie Wuth is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Practical Philosophy at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Her research focuses on the relation of nature and politics, questions of agency and identity, as well as the power of affects and imagination. Her most recent publications include the co-edited volume Decolonising Political Concepts (2023) and “Hate. Imaginary Roots and Fatal Dynamics of a Complex Relations” (2022).

• Notes on ContributorsProloguePrefaceSusan JamesIntroduction: PestilenceDan Taylor and Marie WuthAbbreviationsPart I. Politics1. Truth, Obedience and Freedom. Some Considerations on Spinoza’s Concept of Politics and its Relation with PhilosophyMaría Jimena Solé2. Hobbes and Spinoza on natural equality and political equilibriumBeth Lord3. What would the Practice of the Universal Faith in Democracy Look Like?Ki-Myoung KimPart II. Power4. God or Natura naturata? Spinoza on the Identity Between God and NatureAntonio Salgado Borge5. Kissing the Ring: Power, Ingenium and DispositionDan Taylor6. Violence, Speech, and Deception in Spinoza’s Theologico-Political TreatiseHasana Sharp7. Towards Spinoza’s Critique of Violence: On Sovereign Interruption and the Bodily Limits of Political ViolenceNicolas Lema HabashPart III. Imagination8. Recognition-Rebellion-Freedom – Emergent Identities and Political Change in SpinozaSteph Marston9. Daily Invectives: The State of Bitter HateMarie Wuth10. Imagination, Authority, and Admiratio in Spinoza’s Theologico-Political ThoughtGil Morejón11. Spinoza’s True Prophecies: Justified Good BeliefEmanuele CostaEpilogueRoundtable on Democracy, Public Reasoning and the Education of the ImaginationMogens Lærke, Martin Saar and Dan TaylorWorks CitedIndex

This intensely engaging and original collection of essays stands as testament to the power of Spinoza’s political and theological writings to continue to generate innovative and inspiring ways of conceiving of the State, freedom, and violence. This exhilarating volume opens new paths of inquiry for political and social philosophy, ethics, and the history of ideas, but it also offers welcome practical insights into the many conundrums democracy poses in our present.