This very first analysis of Spinozas philosophy of law from the viewpoint of his deterministic ontology shows that he revolutionized modern philosophy from within by developing an entirely new natural law theory connecting his ontology to radicallyMoreThis very first analysis of Spinozas philosophy of law from the viewpoint of his deterministic ontology shows that he revolutionized modern philosophy from within by developing an entirely new natural law theory connecting his ontology to radically democratic political views. The book forms a balanced structure in which the three conceptual pillars of Spinozas natural law theory (individuality, natural laws, and power) are first analyzed from the viewpoint of his ontology and then from the viewpoint of his political theory.
Spinozas revolutionary equivalence of law to power is regarded as the core simultaneously of an ethical individualistic project, of a democratic alternative to modern State politics, and of an amoral naturalistic philosophy of law. The author concludes that Spinoza develops a new type of progressive individualism still left to explore that revolutionizes both modern natural law and contemporary radical democratic studies.