Spinoza and Hobbes

In Yitzhak Y. Melamed (ed.), Blackwell Companion to Spinoza. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell. pp. 81-92 (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes directly influenced and, possibly, was also influenced by Spinoza. Hobbes and Spinoza were both aware of the advanced science of mid-seventeenth-century Europe and of the uncomfortable fit of that science with traditional moral and religious doctrines. Spinoza defines ‘appetite’ in terms of striving and ‘desire,’ in turn, in terms of appetite. The basis for Spinoza's theory of desire in an account of causation implies that the distinction between activity and passivity may be incremental. For both Hobbes and Spinoza, the emotions are basic enough to psychology that a theory of them amounts to a theory of human nature: it tells us what, in a very basic way, human beings are like. The chapter addresses the authors’ views on the question of whether and how human beings can change. It presents consequences of the philosophers’ accounts of human nature for their ethics and politics.

Author's Profile

Michael LeBuffe
University of Otago

Analytics

Added to PP
2023-03-04

Downloads
418 (#54,980)

6 months
205 (#12,568)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?