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Political Treatise — Baruch Spinoza

Posthumous work · Essential works

Political Treatise

Tractatus politicus

Retrato anónimo de Spinoza (Wolfenbüttel)
byBaruch Spinoza

A treatise of political theory which, unlike the Theological-Political Treatise, leaves biblical exegesis aside and studies how monarchy, aristocracy and democracy must be organised so that peace and freedom do not depend on the virtue of rulers. It starts from the idea that human actions are to be understood, not laughed at, lamented or detested, and that each one's right extends as far as his power. It remained unfinished just as it was to deal with democracy, the form of government he considered most absolute.

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Authorship note

Written between 1675 and 1677 and broken off by the author's death in chapter XI, devoted to democracy; published in the Opera posthuma (1677).

Editions and translations

Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.

English

  • A Political Treatise (The Chief Works, vol. 1)

    George Bell & Sons, Londres, 1883

    Translation: R. H. M. Elwes

    Dominio público.

Latín

  • Tractatus politicus, en B. d. S. Opera posthuma

    Jan Rieuwertsz, Ámsterdam, 1677

Français

  • Traité politique (Œuvres de Spinoza, t. II)

    Charpentier, París, 1861

    Translation: Émile Saisset

    Dominio público; en Wikisource.

Deutsch

Español

Other works by Baruch Spinoza

Sources

  • Spinoza, Benedictus de. Tractatus politicus, en Opera posthuma, 1677 (texto latino en Wikisource).

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