Chapter 10 - When Having Too Much Power Is Harmful

Summary

This chapter begins with the observation that Spinoza is commonly perceived as suggesting that any empowerment is essentially good. In tension with this idea, Spinoza asserts in Chapter Seven of his Political Treatise that “the most stable state is one which defends only its own possessions, and cannot seek those of others.” This chapter argues that Spinoza develops a view according to which having too much power is likely to bring about the destruction of the state. Thus, it is a matter of luck (i.e., of having just the right amount of power) which determines the fate and survival of the state. It then explains how these claims of Spinoza’s can be reconciled with his general view of power as virtue, and what can we learn about Spinoza’s understanding of power from the surprising passage in the Seventh Chapter of the TP.