The Political Functions of Spinoza’s Notion of Decisio

Abstract

It is needless to say that decision is a vital concept and is at the very heart of any political activity. The aim of this study is to shed some light upon the problem of decision in Benedictus de Spinoza’s political thought. In so doing, our point of departure is Spinoza’s “notorious” text, namely, Tractatus-Theologico Politicus. Moving from this text, first, the study deals with how the problem of decision is positioned and explicated in Spinoza’s thought. Then it attempts to describe and explain how the political meaning of the conceptualizion of decision can be pondered in Spinoza’s theoretical universe. The major argument of this study is that the notion of decision in Spinoza’s thought is a multi-functional notion and provides remarkable opportunities in order to rethink the concept of the political and sovereignty.