The Philosophy of Spinoza: Politics, Freedom and Imagination

Goals

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This course explores the thought of Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677). Spinoza was born and lived in the Dutch Republic and had Portuguese-Jewish origins. Spinoza made significant contributions to modern biblical criticism and 17th-century rationalism. His thought combines elements of ancient Stoicism, medieval Jewish rationalism, and the thought of philosophers such as Maimonides, Hobbes, and Descartes. Students will develop appropriate critical and analytical skills through discussing philosophical texts on topics related to freedom, imagination, politics, and prophecy. Students will learn to navigate philosophical thinking by addressing fundamental questions, including: What is freedom? How can we conceive of a political order?

Programme

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CLASS ONE
Life and Works (1632–1677)

Roger Scruton, Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2002).

CLASS TWO
Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect (1662)

Baruch Spinoza, Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, trans. by E. Curley, 2 vols (Princeton University Press, 1988–2016), I, pp. 7–45.

CLASS THREE
The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy (1663)

Baruch Spinoza, Parts I and II of Descartes’ ‘Principles of Philosophy’, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, I, pp. 224–299.

CLASS FOUR
Theologico-Political Treatise (1670): ‘On Prophecy’ and ‘On the Prophets’

Baruch Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, II, pp. 65–355 (chapters I and II).

CLASS FIVE
Theologico-Political Treatise (1670): ‘On the Vocation of the Hebrews’ and ‘On the Divine Law’

Baruch Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, II, pp. 65–355 (chapters III and IV).

CLASS SIX
Theologico-Political Treatise (1670): ‘On Ceremonies and Narratives’ and ‘On Miracles’

Baruch Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, II, pp. 65–355 (chapters V and VI).

CLASS SEVEN
Theologico-Political Treatise (1670): ‘On the Interpretation of Scripture’

Baruch Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, II, pp. 65–355 (chapters VII and VIII).

CLASS EIGHT
The Foundations of Spinozian Thought: Between Maimonides and Descartes

Moses Maimonides, The Guide to the Perplexed, trans. by L. E. Goodman and P. I. Lieberman (Stanford University Press, 2024), First Part.

René Descartes, Discourse on the Method, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, trans. by J. Cottingham et al., 2 vols (Cambridge University Press, 1984–1985), I, pp. 111–151.

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, II, pp. 1–62.

CLASS NINE
Political Treatise (1675–76): ‘On Natural Right’

Baruch Spinoza, Political Treatise, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, II, pp. 503–605.

CLASS TEN
Political Treatise (1675–76): ‘The Ultimate and Highest End a State can Aim at’

Baruch Spinoza, Political Treatise, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, II, pp. 503–605.

CLASS ELEVEN
Ethics (1677): ‘Of God’ and ‘Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind’

Baruch Spinoza, Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, I, pp. 408–620 (Chapters 1 and 2).

CLASS TWELVE
Ethics (1677): ‘Of the Origin and Nature of the Affects’ and ‘Of Human Bondage’

Baruch Spinoza, Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, I, pp. 408–620 (Chapters 3 and 4)

CLASS THIRTEEN
Ethics (1677): ‘Of the Power of the Intellect’

Baruch Spinoza, Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order, in The Collected Works of Spinoza, I, pp. 408–620 (Chapter 5)

Bibliography

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• Garrett, D. (Ed.). (1996). The Cambridge companion to Spinoza. Cambridge University Press.
• Hegel, G. W. F. (1995). Lectures on the history of philosophy (Vol. 3: Medieval and modern philosophy; E. S. Haldane & F. H. Simson, Trads.; pp. 252–290). University of Nebraska Press. (Original work published 1833–1836).
• Jaspers, K. (1974). Spinoza (R. Manheim, Trad.). Harvest/HBJ. (Obra original publicada em 1932).
• Nadler, S. (2018). Spinoza: A life. Cambridge University Press.
• Scruton, R. (2002). Spinoza: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
• Spinoza, B. (1988–2016). The collected works of Spinoza (E. Curley, Trad.; 2 vols.). Princeton University Press.
• Wolfson, H. A. (1934). The philosophy of Spinoza (2 vols.). Harvard University Press.

Prerequesites

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have knowledge of English

tuition fees

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See table in useful information

teachers

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Fabio Tononi –  Italian historian and theorist of art and culture. Since 2025, he has been a Post-doctoral Collaborating Researcher at CHAM – NOVA FCSH. Since 2023, he has taught philosophy at the Luís Krus Centre. He is the co-editor-in-chief of The Edgar Wind Journal. From September to December 2025, Tononi was a Research Fellow at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, and a Participating Investigator in a research project based at the same institute, focusing on the work of art historian Max Dvorák. From 2022 to 2025, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CHAM – NOVA FCSH. In 2021, Tononi received a PhD from the Warburg Institute. Since 2017, he has been taking part in the masterclasses of philosopher Slavoj Žižek at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London. His publications include: Edgar Wind: Art and Embodiment, co-edited with J. Anderson and B. Branca (Peter Lang, 2024).

João Luís Lisboa – Teaches and researches in the field of cultural history and the history of ideas. He is a researcher at CHAM – Centre for the Humanities (NOVA FCSH and University of the Azores), of which he has been director since 2022. He is a member of the NOVA FCSH Faculty Council elected in 2022. In the History department, he teaches “Methodology of History”. In the Portuguese Studies department, he is responsible for a seminar, “History of the Book” in the M.A. in Text Editing and Publishing. In the Department of Sociology he has collaborated on the seminar “Women and Human Rights”.