Conflict, Power, and Multitude in Machiavelli and Spinoza

Conflict, Power and Multitude in Machiavelli and Spinoza explores Spinoza's political philosophy by confronting it with that of Niccolò Machiavelli.
Filippo Del Lucchese conducts a study of the relationship between Machiavelli and Spinoza from a perspective at once philosophical, historical and political.
The book begins by showing how closely tied the two thinkers are in relation to realism. Del Lucchese then goes on to examine the theme of conflict as a crucial element of an understanding of Machiavelli and Spinoza's conceptions of modernity.

The book concludes with an examination of the concept of 'multiplicity' and 'plural' expressions of politics, namely Machiavelli's popolo and Spinoza's multitudo. Overall, the Machiavelli-Spinoza axis offers a fruitful perspective through which to analyse the relationship between contending ideas of modernity from a historical point of view, and provides an original point of departure for discussing some key theoretical, political and juridical notions that have resurfaced in contemporary debates.

Auteur

Filippo Del Lucchese is Adjunct Professor and Visiting Researcher in English and Comparative Literary Studies at Occidental College, USA, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Picardie, France.

Résumé
Conflict, Power and Multitude in Machiavelli and Spinoza explores Spinoza's political philosophy by confronting it with that of Niccol Machiavelli. Filippo Del Lucchese conducts a study of the relationship between Machiavelli and Spinoza from a perspective at once philosophical, historical and political. The book begins by showing how closely tied the two thinkers are in relation to realism. Del Lucchese then goes on to examine the theme of conflict as a crucial element of an understanding of Machiavelli and Spinoza's conceptions of modernity. The book concludes with an examination of the concept of 'multiplicity' and 'plural' expressions of politics, namely Machiavelli's popolo and Spinoza's multitudo. Overall, the Machiavelli-Spinoza axis offers a fruitful perspective through which to analyse the relationship between contending ideas of modernity from a historical point of view, and provides an original point of departure for discussing some key theoretical, political and juridical notions that have resurfaced in contemporary debates.

Contenu

Introduction

1. Realism
   i. The sky, the Sun, the Elements, Man: Necessity and Occasion in the Realism of Machiavelli and Spinoza
   ii. 'Freedom' and the 'Common Good', or, in other words, Tyranny

2. Conflict
   i. Spoliatis Arma Supersunt, Furor Arma Ministrat: Philosophy as Resistance
   ii. Jerusalem and Rome
   iii. Iustitia and Army

3. Multitude
   i. Quid Corpus Possit Nemo Hucusque Determinavit: the Spinozist 'war cry'
   ii. Individual Multiple Being

Bibliography