Abstract

In the preface to the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus , Spinoza describes the human condition as one of misery caused by a theological problem and a political problem. The theological problem is that men imagine their misfortune to be the result of some providential force operating in nature. The political problem is that men imagine their greatest good to be the satisfaction of their passions which brings them into competition, and eventually conflict, with other men. The theological problem and the political problem are the result of men's imaginings. This relation leads to a third problem, the theological-political problem, which is caused by the competition for authority over the multitude by tyrants and clergy. Ambitious men seek to solidify their own authority by manipulating the imaginings of the multitude. However, since political and religious leaders have separate domains of authority, each struggles to make the other subservient. The theological and political problems exacerbate human misery when tyrants and clergy encourage even more superstitious imaginings to solidify their power. As a result, the theological and political problems cannot be solved without also settling the conflict between tyrants and priests. My thesis is that Spinoza intends in the TTP to establish a theology to address these three problems. ;In the TTP, Spinoza elaborates a theology which effectively limits the range of superstitious imaginings by adopting traditional, religious categories and opinions and redefining them in non-supernatural ways. Spinoza's novel theology ameliorates the theological problem by discouraging men from imagining nature in supernatural ways and by defining less oppressive dogmas. By encouraging men to seek salvation through works of charity , Spinoza also seeks to address the political problem of conflict and competition. Thus, Spinoza's theology unifies rather than divides men around non-supernatural tenets. Spinoza also ameliorates the theological-political problem which arises from the competition for power among tyrants and clergy by encouraging religious leaders to adopt his critical-historical approach which prevents religious leaders from interpreting Scripture in authoritative, superstitious ways