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9. - Agreement

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Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

Karolina Hübner
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Justin Steinberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

The notion of agreement in nature plays a pivotal function in Spinoza’s mature philosophy. In the Ethics (e.g., E4p32d), Spinoza consistently uses the Latin convenire and convenientia to express “agreement in nature” (see also cohaerentia and consentio in Letter 32). Its opposite is natura discrepare or disagreement in nature (e.g., E4p33). In general, there are three main contexts in which this notion occurs: (i) in the domain of epistemology, as Spinoza discusses the nature of “common notions” (E2p37–39); (ii) in the mixed domain (including ontology, psychology, and moral philosophy) of causal interactions between individuals and how their affects shape these interactions (e.g., E4p32–35); and (iii) in the political domain in which Spinoza discusses how agreement or harmony can be reached, supported, and defended within political bodies, societies, and institutions (e.g., E4p40; TP2.13–15).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Recommended Reading

Hübner, K. (2015). Spinoza on essences, universals, and beings of reason. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 97, 5888.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renz, U. (2018). The Explainability of Experience: Realism and Subjectivity in Spinoza’s Theory of the Human Mind. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Della Rocca, M. (2010). Getting his hands dirty: Spinoza’s criticism of the rebel. In Melamed, Y. and Rosenthal, M. A. (eds.), Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise: A Critical Guide (pp. 168–91). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sangiacomo, A. (2019). Spinoza on Reason, Passions, and the Supreme Good. Oxford University Press. Chapter 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinberg, J. (2019). Bodies politic and civic agreement. In Armstrong, A., Green, K., & Sangiacomo, A. (eds.), Spinoza and Relational Autonomy: Being with Others (pp. 132–48). Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar

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