HUMA 1825 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Baruch Spinoza, Liberal Democracy
14 Dec 2017
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Spinoza is the first writer to provide a systematic theory of a modern liberal democracy. Such a democracy is characterized by the protection under law of the liberty of thought and expression, cultural and religious pluralism, and equal freedom and security for all. Spinoza is difficult to read because his sentences interlock and reinforce each other in subtle ways. Reading spinoza is like figuring out a puzzle. At first his sentences seem like a jumbled mess. But if you keep reading and re-reading the pages, everything comes together with astonishing and profound coherence. Spinoza is quite aware of the demands that he places on his readers (in a way, he is always commenting on that difficulty). Since we are encountering spinoza in a first year course, i will provide you with a section by section summary of chapter 4 of the reading, where spinoza lays out his fundamental ideas.
