Psychologie déterministe et projet éthique chez Spinoza

Making use of the opportunity presented by A.R. Damasio's book that makes Spinoza a precursor of neurobiology, the A. re-examines the text of the Ethics. It is true that the philosopher considers man to be the idea of a body and does not attribute free will to him. But in his view the slavery of man (which consists in error and passion) arises from the fact that at the start he possesses only inadequate (that is, partial and mutilated) ideas due to the particular situation of his body among other bodies. Liberation can only come from the acquisition of adequate and intuitive ideas: it has to do therefore with becoming aware and not with action on corporeal conditions (transl. J. Dudley). © 2013 Revue Philosophique de Louvain. Tous droits réservés.