Power, Necessity and Freedom in Spinoza

Well-known at the international level as the author of the famous Lexicon Spinozanum (The Hague, 1970), Emilia Giancotti (Reggio Calabria 1930-Rome 1992) was a moving force in the rebirth of Spinoza studies in Italy through her efforts in the fields of translation and commentary of the Dutch philosopher, first with the revision of the Droetto translation of the Theologico-Political Treatise (Turin: 1972) and then with the translation and commentary of The Ethics (Rome: 1988). We are also indebted to her for the foundation, in 1987, along with Paolo Cristofolini and Filippo Mignini, of the “Italian Association of the Friends of Spinoza” (Associazione Italiana degli Amici di Spinoza), of which she was first president. She was a tireless organizer of colloquiums, conferences and seminars, amongst which the first international conference on Spinoza in Italy “Spinoza in the 350th anniversary of his birth” (Spinoza nel 350° anniversario della nascita) in Urbino from the 4th-8th October 1982, and the “Hobbes and Spinoza: Science and Politics” conference on the occasion of Hobbes’ 400-year anniversary (Hobbes è Spinoza: scienza e politica) held in Urbino from the 14th to the 17th October, 1988. From the first year of its foundation onwards, she was part of the scientific committee of the journal Studia Spinozana, for which she edited, along with Manfred Walther and Alexandre Matheron, the first volume of 1985: “Spinoza’s Philosophy of Society”. Daniela Bostrenghi is a researcher in Theoretical Philosophy at the Department of Humanities of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, where she teaches "Theories of Morals and Politics". At the time a student and collaborator of Emilia Giancotti, her research areas concern in particular Spinoza, Hobbes, the theory of the imagination and its ethical-political implications in modern thought. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the ‘Societas Spinozana’ (Rome). Oliver Feltham is Professor of Philosophy at the American University of Paris. His training in Sydney and Paris was in contemporary French philosophy, psychoanalysis, theatre and eco-design. During his career he has used this training to develop an innovative method and apply it to the question of the ontology of political action in early modern philosophy, aesthetics and metaphysics. His current research concerns the genealogy of the concept of political action in modernity, and the relation between action, time and the collective imagination.

• Introduction: Reason as a tool for freedom. Emilia Giancotti interpreter of SpinozaDaniela BostrenghiTranslator's Notes and AcknowledgementsOliver FelthamAbbreviationsEssays by Emilia GiancottiChapter 1. Freedom, Democracy and Revolution in Spinoza: Notes for a DiscussionChapter 2. On the Question of Materialism in SpinozaChapter 3. Humanity as a Part of NatureChapter 4. Necessity and Freedom: Reflections on Texts by SpinozaChapter 5. Realism and Utopia: Limits to Political Freedom and the Prospective of Liberation in Spinoza’s Political PhilosophyChapter 6. The Birth of Modern Materialism in Hobbes and SpinozaChapter 7. The Theory of Absolutism in Hobbes and SpinozaChapter 8. Spinoza's GodChapter 9. Theory and Practice of Freedom in the Light of Spinozian OntologyChapter 10. On the Concepts of Potenza and Potere in SpinozaChapter 11. On the Problem of Infinite ModesChapter 12. Religion and PoliticsChapter 13. On the Spinozian Concept of VirtueChapter 14. Individual and State in the Early Theorizations of the Modern State: Hobbes and Spinoza in ComparisonChapter 15. Giovanni Gentile: Editor and Interpreter of the EthicsIndex of namesIndex