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172. - State of Nature

from S

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

By
Beth Lord
Edited by
Karolina Hübner  and
Justin Steinberg
Karolina Hübner
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Justin Steinberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

Spinoza discusses a pre-political “state of nature” in the Ethics (E4p37s2) and in his political texts (TTP16.2–12; TP2). While he adopts the terminology of natural law theorists, scholars are divided as to his adherence to its principles (Curley 1991; Steinberg 2018a; Santos Campos 2012; Balibar 1997; James 2020b). Like Hobbes (L13; DC1), he conceives the state of nature as the condition of human life prior to the introduction of sovereign authority, civil laws, and moral norms. It is a state in which people are driven by their affects and constrained only by the greater powers of others. Unlike Hobbes, however, Spinoza understands the state of nature to follow from the infinite power of God, and its laws to follow from the essences of the infinite individuals that constitute nature as a whole. Since “man is only a small part” of nature, the state of nature is not organized for human advantage (TTP16.10), and our rights and moral obligations cannot be derived from it.

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Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon , pp. 498 - 499
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Recommended Reading

Balibar, E. (2008). Spinoza and Politics, trans. Snowdon, P.. Verso.Google Scholar
Curley, E. (1991). The state of nature and its law in Hobbes and Spinoza. Philosophical Topics, 19(1), 97–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, S. (2012). Spinoza on Philosophy, Religion, and Politics: The Theological-Political Treatise. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinberg, J. (2018). Spinoza’s Political Psychology: The Taming of Fortune and Fear. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verbeek, T. (2007). Spinoza on natural rights. Intellectual History Review, 17(3), 257–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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