"Jefferson instead recognizes that the multitude will act at times on the basis of ignorance, and yet he still affirms not only their right to rebel but also the benefits of their rebellion. His thinking in this regard runs parallel to that of Spinoza, and, in fact, Spinoza's thought can help carry this line of democratic thinking further. The two thinkers share a pair of basic assumptions: one on the virtue of disobedience, since freedom can never result from obedience to authority; and another on the capacities of the multitude, even though it is born ignorant, to become intelligent and rule itself autonomously. The process leading the multitude from ignorance to wisdom is indeed the steep path that runs throughout Spinoza's work."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Michael Hardt, Jefferson and Democracy (American Quarterly, Volume 59, Number 1, March 2007)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Baruch Spinoza
philosopher, Bible translator, grinder of lenses
1632 – 1677 · Dutch Republic
Benedictus de Spinoza (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a social and metaphysical philosopher known for the elaborate development of his monist philosophy, which has become known as Spinozism. Controversy regarding his ideas led to his excommunication from the Jewish community of his native Amsterdam. He was named Baruch ("blessed" in Hebrew) Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Spinoza or Bento d'Espiñoza, but afterwards used the name Benedictus ("blessed" in Latin) de
517 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Baruch Spinoza →
Related Quotes
"Perhaps then we shall take note that the eternity of substance is not, as Spinoza himself reflected, directly assimil…"
"Spinozism dominated the eighteenth century both in its later French variety, which made matter into substance, and in…"
"Hegel's History of Philosophy presents French materialism as the realization of Spinozistic Substance, which in any c…"
"Even in the case of philosophers who give systematic form to their work, Spinoza for instance, the true inner structu…"
"...But no matter how enamoured one may be with Postmodernist instability of meanings and signification slippage, abso…"
"An important part of Deleuze's oeuvre is devoted to the reading of philosophers: the Stoics, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Nie…"
"[Spinoza] — A God-intoxicated man. [Original in German: Ein Gottbetrunkener Mensch.]"
"In Hegel there are three elements, Spinoza's Substance, Fichte's Self-Consciousness and Hegel's necessarily antagonis…"
"Herr Bauer picked out French materialism as a school of Spinoza from Hegel's History of Philosophy. But when he found…"
"And what this Lange has to say about the Hegelian method and my application of the same is simply childish. First, he…"