Resumo

Spinoza on freedom, individual rights and public power. Prax. filos. [online]. 2015, n.40, pp.11-34. ISSN 0120-4688.

This paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of Spinoza's most conspicuous political doctrines: his rejection of classical contractualism, his doctrine of the equivalence of right and power, his description of the limits of government either as logical limitations or as restrictions, not of power, but of impotence, and his defence of democracy as the most natural and most rational form of the state. Also, two alleged paradoxes that permeate Spinoza's political thought are solved: the conflict between a naturalistic approach and a discourse whose purpose is to shed light on the grounds of political legitimacy, and the tension between the dynamics of freedom and the dynamics of power. Far from obsolete, Spinoza's political philosophy comes to light as able to meet the demands of the contemporary world

Palavras-chave : Democracy; Freedom; Hobbes; Natural Rights; Public Power.

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