Spinoza’s Dynamic Theory of Mind in the 21st Century

There are surely many important aspects of Spinoza’s thought that remain underexplored in the contemporary scholarship. But rather than focusing my contribution to this volume on scholarly lacunae, I want to call attention to a different kind of neglect, one that results not from the lack of interpretative work, but from the lack of philosophical analysis. Put simply: I think that there are facets of Spinoza’s philosophical system that have not received the level of attention that they deserve in contemporary philosophy and that Spinoza scholars bear some responsibility for this. I will discuss below some of the promising features of his moral psychology, recognizing that similar things could be said about other aspects of his work. While other modern philosophers have left enduring marks on contemporary ethical and political philosophy, even counting prominent contemporary philosophers as adherents, Spinoza is altogether absent from most contemporary surveys and anthologies in the field.1What might justify Spinoza’s exclusion from the contemporary landscape? Perhaps his views are archaic and untenable on their face. I don’t think that is right, for reasons I will spell out below. Perhaps, then, they are not especially distinctive. But I don’t think that that is right either. While his moral and political views bear the clear influence of Thomas Hobbes, careful examination reveals he is far more than just a renegade Hobbesian.2