Obedientia and obsequium in the Spinoza’s philosophy: on a suggestive conceptual distinction between Theological-Political Treatise and Political Treatise

Abstract

This article aims to address a displacement that operates in Spinoza's philosophy and, specifically, between the Theological-Political Treatise and the Political Treatise; based on the notions of obedientia and obsequium. The starting point is to recognize the argumentative plot that makes it possible to establish the distinction between obedience and its theological-political foundation in the history of the Hebrew State, and the need to find a common bond to think about democracy beyond the split between desire and law. This last reflection, which Spinoza carries out in the unfinished Political Treatise, acquires a particular meaning under the expression obsequium, which is usually translated as obedience. However, by leaning towards this term, Spinoza seems to indicate a meaning more in line with the ontology of immanence and its political derivations as a power of the common. For this reason, we will investigate the semantic richness of obsequium in the classical tradition to elucidate the possible influences that would have led Spinoza to use this particular term.