Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom by Dan Taylor

Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom by Dan Taylor

Reconceives human freedom in Spinoza as intrinsically social and politically committed Combining careful historical and textual analysis with comparisons across past and present political theory, this book re-establishes Spinoza as a collectivist philosopher. Taking as its starting point the formative role of fear in Spinoza's thought, Dan Taylor argues that Spinoza's vision of human freedom and power is realised socially and collectively. He offers a new critical study of the collectivist Spinoza, where we can become freer through desire, friendship, the imagination and transforming the social institutions that structure a given community. A freedom for one and all, attuned to the vicissitudes of human life and the capabilities of each one of us to live up to the demands and constraints of our limited autonomy. This book develops and enriches the continental tradition of Spinozism, drawing on a range of untranslated materials and bringing a fresh perspective to key debates. It repositions Spinoza as the central thinker of desire and freedom and demonstrates how the conflicts within his work inform contemporary theoretical discussions around democracy, the multitude, populism and power. Dan Taylor is a Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at the Open University

"The great merit of Dan Taylor is to have returned to Spinoza's conceptions of human servitude and the efficacy of the multitude as political actor, setting aside any notion that the work of the previous generation of scholars has somehow settled the conflicts that animate these conceptions in their textual existenceHis book represents an extremely erudite and provocative reconsideration of some of the most important of Spinoza's philosophical discoveries. He has opened up new paths in Spinoza scholarship." -Warren Montag, Brown Family Professor of Literature at Occidental College, Los Angeles

Dan Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at the Open University. He specialises in political theory and British politics. He’s the author of three books including Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom (Edinburgh University Press, 2021), and Island Story: Journeys Through Unfamiliar Britain (shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2017). In 2023 he was awarded the title BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781474478403
ISBN 10	1474478409
Title	Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom
Author	Dan Taylor
Series	Spinoza Studies
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Edinburgh University Press
Year published	2022-12-05
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable