La philosophie de la liberté de Spinoza

Abstract

Spinoza's philosophy of freedom is the subject of our reflection in this work. This subject arose from the observation of current societies, where private freedoms are asserted as individualistic without the slightest concern for their actual content, and without taking into account their relationship to collective freedoms, which are their limits in contract-based societies. However, the question of confusing freedom with licentiousness looms large in today's societies. Because freedom is misinterpreted, it is abused through misuse. It's taken as a license to do whatever you want, however you want. The present subject is rooted in Spinoza's thought, and aims at answer ins following question: how can we, from Spinoza’s philosophy, reach conception and a definition of human freedom which can guarantee a minimum of dignity to man today? Indeed, since the question of human freedom is a historical one, we have started from ancient philosophy, to better define the problem of freedom that arises today in the wake of Spinoza's thought. This approach is justified above all by the fact that Spinoza's philosophy is the antithesis of the philosophies that preceded it. Unlike the latter, which saw freedom in terms of participation in the deliberations of the public affairs of the city, free will or the will of thought, Spinoza offers us another dimension of understanding the concept of freedom. On the political level, he shows that, in the state of nature, man is an individual driven by the conatus. He possesses a natural right to everything, which implies a natural freedom without limits. But this freedom causes him a great deal of damage. This is why Spinoza indicates that men must give up their natural freedom and leave the state of nature to enter the civil state via the social pact. The civil state is the policed society whose role is to guarantee security, peace and freedom for mankind. The freedom of the civil state means respect for social norms and the rules of law, in other words, respect for the law. On an ethical level, Spinoza also shows that to be free, man must free himself from the passions and affects that agitate him and make him act contrary to his nature. In this respect, he argues that reason alone is capable of freeing man from the passions that hinder him. For, when he lives under the guidance of reason, he obeys the common decree and can dominate his desires and appetites in order to freely lead a dignifying life.