Spinoza's State of
Is it even more extreme than Hobbes's?
Are there any moral constraints in the SN?
Are there duties to God in the SN?
Why are there no laws of
reason in the State of Nature?
Where do laws of reason come
from?
According to Hobbes, the Golden Rule summarizes all the Laws
of Nature. Does Spinoza agree? According to Spinoza, what is the universal
law of human nature?
Recall what Hobbes says about agreements to pay ransom made
by prisoners of war and agreements to pay a thief when made under threat of
death. Does Spinoza agree with Hobbes on
the question of whether they are binding?
According to Spinoza, what
makes a compact valid?
What is necessary for the
Golden Rule to be binding? Why?
SPINOZA'S SOVEREIGN
What is Spinoza's
definition of a sovereign?
According to Spinoza is
there any important distinction between a sovereign by institution and a
sovereign by acquisition?
According to Spinoza, do
citizens have any inalienable rights?
Why are citizens obliged to
fulfill the commands of the sovereign power "however absurd these may
be"?(203)
Can the sovereign wrong a
subject or commit injustice?
What is the advantage of
democracy over monarchy?
What is Spinoza's definition
of freedom?
Spinoza's First Argument
for Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Speech
Why does Spinoza think that
"the true aim of government is liberty"?
Is Spinoza advocating a right to freedom of thought and to
freedom of speech?
Not strict rights but proper
course of action.
What is the fact on which
Spinoza bases his first argument for freedom of thought?
What is the analogy to
"luxury, envy, drunkenness, and the like"?
Why does he think that the
argument also extends to speech?
What kinds of speech does he
exclude from the argument?
Spinoza's Second
(Consequentialist) Argument for Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Speech
(1) The uselessness of laws
limiting thought or speech.
(2) The problem of
criminalizing men of enlightenment, who love virtue and the liberal arts. "Such freedom is absolutely necessary
for progress in science and the liberal arts."(210)
(3) Why the laws are bound to
punish those don't deserve punishment. [Consider the example of loyalty oaths during
the 1950's]
(4) Freedom of judgment
enables men to live together in harmony.
(5) The prosperity of
Amsterdam. [Compare The Rise of the
Creative Class, a study on the relation between tolerance and economic
development.]
(6) Intolerance breeds
conflict.
The surprising claim:
Suppression of opinion increases conflict; tolerance of opinion reduces
conflict. This would not have been
predicted a priori.
What is the ironic twist to Spinoza's last paragraph?