"There are different types of democracy…": Dialectic of Operation of Democratic Collectivity in Spinoza's Tractatus Politicus

• Main Author: Kim, Ki-Myoung
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: dialectic of democracy; discrimination; multitude; radical democracy; Spinoza
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss45/12; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1040/viewcontent/Ki_Myoung_20Kim.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This paper presents a critical analysis of the concept of democracy in Spinoza’s political philosophy, emphasizing the dialectic of operation of democratic collectivity and the role of the multitude. It juxtaposes Antonio Negri’s radical democratic interpretation of Spinoza with Spinoza’s own detailed exposition in the Tractatus Politicus. This exploration confronts the exclusionary and discriminatory argumentation within Spinoza’s framework, especially concerning women and other marginalized groups, questioning the absoluteness of a democratic state. The democratic operation is reconceptualized as a continually dialectical process encompassing inclusion, exclusion, and the negotiation of citizenship, with the multitude as the ambivalent agent of collective power. The paper thus proposes a nuanced understanding of democracy in Spinoza’s thought, characterized by the continuous redefinition of its limits and potential, suggesting that democracy’s essence and operation lies in the multitude’s capacity for self-constitution and the perpetual re-negotiation of power structures.