Dan Taylor is a Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at the Open University. He is the author of Island Story: Journeying Through Unfamiliar Britain (Repeater Books, 2016), shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2017 and Negative Capitalism: Cynicism in the Neoliberal Era (Zero Books, 2013).

Abbreviations

Introduction. Masaniello's Moment

1. Servitude
Prejudices of Nature
Defining Servitude
Political Slavery
Takeover

2. Nature
Natural Right
Laws of Nature
One with Nature
The Black Jew

Part 2. Desiring Freedom

3. Power
Potentia/Potestas
Freedom
Conatus
Many Into One
Infinite Space

4. Desire
Consciousness
Akrasia
Educating Joy
Walking the Path

Part 3. Commonality

5. Becoming Collective
The Broken Middle
Collectivity
The Unanimity Outline
From Vulgus to Populus
Interdependence (or, on Sartre misreading Spinoza)

6. We Imagine
Philosophy and Theology
True Prophets
Jesus Christ, Prophet-Philosopher
A Collectivity to Come

7. The State
Freedom is the State
The Free Multitude
Popular Government
Becoming Civil
The Living State

Cadenza. Prudentissimo Viro

8. Revolution
Is it Reasonable to Rebel?
Indignation
Emulation
Populism for Spinozists

Conclusion. For One and All

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

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