Spinoza's Authority Volume II: Resistance and Power in the Political Treatises

by A. Kiarina Kordela, Dimitris Vardoulakis

Overview

Spinoza's political thought has been subject to a significant revival of interest in recent years. As a response to difficult times, students and scholars have returned to this founding figure of modern philosophy as a means to help reinterpret and rethink the political present. Spinoza's Authority Volume II makes a significant contribution to this ongoing reception and utilization of Spinoza's 1670s Theologico-Political and Political treatises. By taking the concept of authority as an original framework, this books asks: How is authority related to law, memory, and conflict in Spinoza's political thought? What are the social, historical and representational processes that produce authority and resistance? And what are the conditions of effective resistance?


Spinoza's Authority Volume II features a roster of internationally established theorists of Spinoza's work, and covers key elements of Spinoza's political philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350123236
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/27/2019
Series:	Bloomsbury Studies in Continental Philosophy
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

A. Kiarina Kordela is Professor of German and Director of the Critical Theory Program, at Macalester College, and honorary adjunct professor at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.

Dimitris Vardoulakis is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.

Table of Contents

Preface
A. Kiarina Kordela and Dimitris Vardoulakis

Memory, Chance and Conflict: Machiavelli in the Theologico-Political Treatise
Vittorio Morfino

The Symptomatic Relationship between Law and Conflict in Spinoza: Jura communia as anima imperii
Filippo Del Lucchese

Authority and the Law: The Primacy of Justification over Legitimacy in Spinoza
Dimitris Vardoulakis

Hobbes and Spinoza on Scriptural Interpretation, the Hebrew Republic and the Deconstruction of Sovereignty
James R. Martel

Spinoza's Politics of Error
Siarhei Biareishyk

Spinoza's Sovereignty: Fantasy and the Immanent Decision of Interpretation
A. Kiarina Kordela and Joe Bermas-Dawes

Spinoza and Signs: The Two Covenants and Authority in the Theological-Political Treatise
Gregg Lambert

Spinoza and the Hydraulic Discipline of Affects: From the Theologico-Political to the Economic Regime of Desire
Chiara Bottici and Miguel de Beistegui


Index

Editorial Reviews

One of the most decisive political and philosophical questions of our age is that of power. What is real power? Who holds power? What can be done with power? And what are its limits? The essays of this volume provide new resources for addressing the problem of power today. Their wager is that Spinoza's understanding of authority may help break free from the sad passions of today's politics and thinking. Through an unflinching analysis of authority we may begin to articulate an ethics of power.
Anthony Paul Smith, Assistant Professor of Religion and Theology, LaSalle University, USA

The two volumes of Spinoza's Authority have a great deal to offer students and working scholars alike. They contribute to the continental tradition of the interpretation of Spinoza, and they also describe Spinozism as an approach to current social and political issues.
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

This rich collection of papers shows the importance of Spinoza's political writings for the themes of authority, power, law, and freedom. I cannot imagine a better introduction to his philosophy. It should pique the interest of every student of modern political philosophy.
Steven Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Government & Philosophy, Yale University, USA

From the Publisher