Benedictus de Spinoza

“ If all indeed were led by reason, and knew the vast advantages, not to say the necessity, of a sound system of civil polity, there would be none who would not detest guile in every shape, none who would not strive with their whole might to preserve that highest blessing, a well-ordered state, in the assurance that they themselves would have their ample reward in peace and security of life. But men, alas! are very far from always yielding obedience to the dictates of reason ”

“ Whatever any one, regarded as under the empire of nature only, deems useful to himself, therefore, whether led to do so by right reason or by an impulse of appetite, that he desires by a supreme law of nature, and it is lawful for him by force, by cunning, by entreaty — in short, in any and every way, to obtain possession thereof, and to hold as an enemy whoever opposes him in the satisfaction of his desire. From the above it follows that the law or institute of nature, under which all are born, and for the most part live, prohibits nothing but that which no one desires, and no one can desire ”

“ For it is certain that nature, considered absolutely, has unlimited rights within the bounds of possibility; in other words, the right of nature is as extensive as its power. The power of nature, however, is only another phrase for the power of God, who has the first and highest right to all and over all. But as the power of nature at large is nothing more than the aggregate power of every individual thing in nature, it follows that each individual thing has the highest right to all it can compass or attain, and that the rights of individuals are coextensive with their power. ”

“ This law I hold to be so firmly fixed or impressed on the nature of man that it is to be placed among the eternal truths which no one can ignore. But from this it necessarily follows that no one can honestly promise to forego his natural rights, and that no one would keep such a promise if made, unless it were in the fear of some greater evil or the hope of some greater good. ”

“ For, as all alike, whether in possession of their reason or not, are bound by the divine command to love their neighbour as themselves, it seems impossible to live according to the laws of more appetite and not do injury or injustice to others. To this objection, however, if the natural state only be regarded, we can readily find an answer; for the natural state, both in itself and in time, is anterior to religion. No one knows by nature that he owes any obedience to God; this knowledge follows from no reason, but can only be enforced upon every one by revelation confirmed by signs. ”

“ By Private Civil Right we can understand nothing but the liberty enjoyed by every one to maintain himself in his estate and condition, a liberty which is guaranteed by decrees of the supreme power in the state, and is defended by its authority alone; for, having transferred his right to live according to his own will and pleasure to another, in other words, the right and power of self-defence which he originally possessed, he is held bound to live by the rule prescribed to him by this other, and to defend himself under his guidance. ”

“ It is the motive or purpose of the action that constitutes him bond or free: if the end of the action be for the behoof of the party commanding, not of the agent, then is the agent a slave and useless to himself; but where the advantage of the community at large, and not of the ruler, is the aim, as it is in a republic or constitutional state, then is he who obeys no slave, but subject only to the laws of his country, as that commonwealth is the freest whose laws are founded in the highest right and reason. ”

“ Should the individual members of a democracy therefore desire severally to preserve any particular right to themselves, they must take especial care that they also preserve the power to defend it; for if they have not taken measures of precaution of this kind, and a stand cannot be made upon the right in question, without a division being created in the state, and it may be without its existence being imperilled, then have they subjected themselves unconditionally to the ruling authority, and they have nothing for it but obedience. ”

“ Add to this, that the danger of having to submit unconditionally to the will and authority of another is then very imminent; for we have seen that ruling powers have the right to command whatever they please, so long as they possess the power to enforce their commands, or are, in fact, the head of the state; for if they once lose their power of compelling obedience, they at the same time lose their power of commanding, which then falls to those who have been strong enough to acquire it. It only happens very rarely therefore that the highest powers in a state exert their authority very absurdly ”

“ Again, if we reflect that men -live very wretchedly who live without mutual aid, and, without the requisite culture of reason, as has been shown in Chapter V., we perceive most clearly that to live in comfort and security it is indispensable for men to combine together, and to agree that the right which each had from nature individually should be had collectively, — that each should cease to live for himself alone by force and appetite, but that everything should be determined by the will and consent of the community. ”

“ Let us now inquire how this compact is to be arranged and entered on so as to be definite and enduring. For it is a general law of human nature that no one neglects what he esteems to be good unless in the hope of a greater good, or the fear of a greater evil; nor does any one brave an evil save to escape a greater evil, or in the view to achieve a greater good; that is to say, he elects what he thinks the preferable of two good things, or the least detrimental of two evils. ”

“ The natural right of every man therefore is determined by appetite and power, not by sound reason. For all are not constituted by nature to act according to the rules of reason. On the contrary, all are born ignorant of everything; and before they can know the true rule of life, and acquire virtuous habits, a great part of their lives must already have passed. ”

“ But if the sovereign authority refuse to obey God in his revealed will, it must do so at its peril, as there is neither natural nor social law to restrain it, social law or right depending entirely, as we have seen, on the decree of the supreme authority, as natural right depends exclusively on the laws of nature, which are ordered not in accordance with religion only, which aims at the benefit of man alone, but in accordance with nature universally, that is to say, with the eternal decrees of God. ”

“ And this being so, and when reason and necessity alike enforce submission, it follows that unless we would be accounted enemies of the commonwealth, and set ourselves against reason, which is persuading with all its might to the support of the supreme authority, we are bound to obey the commands of the highest power, although to us they may appear absurd; for reason also bids us in a strait to choose the less of two evils. ”

“ As a general thesis the question may be put thus: whosoever possesses the supreme power, whether one, a limited number, or all, has the right to command whatever he wills. Moreover, he who, whether voluntarily or upon compulsion, transfers to another his right of self-defence, abandons to this other his natural title to independent action, and thereby becomes bound to obey him in all things, so long as he — king, council, parliament, people — keeps possession of the supreme authority, which was the foundation of the right of transference. ”

“ That it is advantageous for man to live according to the laws and special precepts of reason which, as has been said, are only intended to be useful to him, cannot be questioned. There is no one who does not desire to live in peace, in safety, and free from fear, which, however, were impossible so long as every one was permitted to do as he pleased, and so long as no greater authority was given to reason than to such passions as hatred and revenge ”

“ Justice comes of that frame of mind which gives to every one what belongs to him by civil right. Injustice, again, follows from a disposition to withhold or to take from another what properly belongs to him by right and law. ”

“ But inasmuch as men are wont to err egregiously in religious matters, and as disputes and differences of great moment arise through diversity of capacity and temper — a truth to which experience amply testifies, — it is certain that if no one is held bound by law to obey the supreme power in matters which in his opinion belong to religion, then the right of the chief authority in the state would depend on the several judgments and dispositions of the individuals which compose it. ”

“ Partiality and impartiality are equivalent terms for unjust and just, for he who is intrusted with the authority to determine differences between citizens is held to have no respect of persons, but to regard all as equal, and to defend the rights of every one with like zeal and conscientiousness, neither bending to the rich nor treading on the poor. ”

“ By the necessity of nature, for instance, every individual thing is constituted to exist, and to act in a certain determined manner, so that whatever appears to us evil or absurd, does so because we know things partially only, and are ignorant of the order and concatenation of nature at large; and because we would direct all in conformity with. our reason, although that which our reason calls evil is not, evil as regards the order and rule of nature generally, but only as regards the law of our proper nature. ”

“ Nor do we only conceive the natural state with reference to its ignorance, and its antecedence to the revelation of the divine law, but with reference to the liberty in which all are born. For if men were held by nature to the observance of divine law, or if divine right were natural right, it would have been superfluous for God to have entered into a covenant with man, and bound him by a bond and an oath. ”

“ But, as we have already shown that natural right, in so far as the individual is concerned, is solely determined by the power which each severally possesses, it follows that so much of this power as he transfers to another, whether perforce or voluntarily, so much of his natural right does he necessarily cede to that other, and that he who possesses supreme power has also supreme right, which he may enforce by all the strength of the law. ”

“ And this is not to be wondered at; for nature is not comprised within the narrow limits of the laws of reason, which are of service to man only and are meant for his sole guidance in conduct, but embraces an infinity of other matters which have respect to the eternal order of creation at large, in which man is a mere atom. ”

“ Having now shown the foundation and the right of the supreme power in a policied state, it will be easy to ascertain wherein private right consists, what constitutes a wrong, what is the meaning of justice and injustice in civil affairs, to determine who is a confederate or ally, who an enemy, and, lastly, to show wherein the crime of treason consists. ”

“ Before man had revelation he could not of course be bound by its decrees. But religion very certainly is no effect of revelation — revelation adds nothing new to human nature. The religious is an original element in the constitution of man ”

“ Confederates are the men composing two or more distinct states, who for mutual defence, to escape the perils of war, or for any other reason of presumed utility to themselves, enter into a compact not only not to injure one another, but to lend each other mutual aid and assistance in case of need, each all the while retaining its individual independence. ”

“ Wherefore, it must be acknowledged unconditionally that divine right began from the time when the Jews, engaged by an express compact to obey God in all things, when they abandoned their state of natural liberty, as it were, and transferred this their birthright to God ”

“ Wherefore, until revelation was given to man, no one could be held bound by the divine law of which he was necessarily ignorant. Consequently, the natural state is by no means to be confounded with the religious state, but is to be regarded as without religion and law, and therefore without sin or crime, as we have already said, confirming our conclusion by reference to the authority of the Apostle Paul. ”

“ A state or community thus constituted is called a democracy, which is then defined as a general assembly of men, holding collectively the highest right to all which each possessed individually. Wherefore it follows that the supreme authority itself is bound by no law, whilst all are bound to obey it in whatsoever it ordains ”

“ Wrong is done when a citizen or subject suffers an injury in person or estate from another, contrary to his civil rights or the decree of the supreme authority. Wrong cannot be conceived, save in a social sense state ”

“ An Enemy is one who lives beyond the bounds of a state, and behaves in such a way as shows that he does not acknowledge its authority either as confederate or as subject; for it is not hate or animosity that makes an enemy of a state, but right; and the right of the state in regard to him who does not recognize its authority by treaty or contract is the same as it is in regard to him who brings damage upon it ”

“ No one, as Seneca says, rules long who rules by violence. And then, absurdities are less to be apprehended in a democracy; for it is next to impossible that the majority of an assembly, especially if it be numerous, should yield to one foolish person, or agree to any foolish or pernicious thing. ”

“ Besides, as the very basis and aim of a policied state are escape from the empire of brute passions, and the restraint of mankind within the bounds of reason and propriety, in order that they may live together in peace and harmony — I say, if the foundation be disturbed, the whole superstructure necessarily falls. ”