Spinoza, the Epicurean: Authority and Utility in Materialism (Spinoza Studies)

Description

By radically re-reading the 'Theological Political Treatise', Dimitris Vardoulakis argues that Spinoza's Epicurean influence has profound implications for his conception of politics and ontology. This reconsideration of Spinoza's political project, set within a historical context, lays the ground for an alternative genealogy of materialism. Copyright Spinoza, the Epicurean Contents Reference Guide to Spinoza’s Works Acknowledgements Preamble Introduction: Why is Spinoza an Epicurean? 1 Freedom as Overcoming the Fear of Death: The Dialectic of Authority and Utility in the Preface 2 The Power of Error: Moses, the Prophets and the People (chapters 1, 2 and 3) 3 Philonomianism: Law and the Origin of Finitude (chapter 4) 4 Political Monism: The Primacy of Utility over Authority (chapters 5 and 6) 5 Love your Friend as Yourself: The Neighbour and the Politics of Biblical Hermeneutics (chapters 7 to 13) 6 The Freedom to Philosophize: The Two Paths to Virtue (chapters 14 and 15) 7 Fear and Power: Natural Right and Authorization in Spinoza and Hobbes (chapter 16) 8 Theocracy: On the State of Authority (chapters 17 and 18) 9 The Authority to Abrogate: The Two Paths to Virtue and the Internal Enemy (chapters 19 and 20) Conclusion: The Limitation of Spinoza’s Epicureanism Bibliography Index