Theologico-Political Treatise
by Baruch Spinoza · Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1670
- Form
- Political theory
- Language
- Latin
- Length
- Long · 320 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendTheological-Political Treatise, translated by Michael Silverthorne and Jonathan IsraelCambridge University Press, 2007The Cambridge Texts edition, accurate and annotated, with Israel's introduction on the book's reception.
These links go straight to Amazon and Bookshop.org and earn this site nothing today. Prices are the same either way. How this works.
Published anonymously and quickly banned, this is Spinoza's argument that freedom of thought is compatible with piety and necessary to a stable state. He examines prophecy, the election of the Hebrews, divine law, miracles and the authorship of scripture, and concludes that the Bible is a historical document written for a particular people in a particular idiom, that it teaches obedience and justice rather than metaphysics, and that miracles cannot suspend the order of nature. The later chapters treat natural right, the transfer of power to the sovereign, the record of the Hebrew state, and why the sovereign should leave judgement and speech free.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Theologico-Political Treatise are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
