Baruch Spinoza’s Letter on Freedom commented
Here is the Full text of Baruch Spinoza’s letter about freedom addressed to G. H. Schuller. This complete text of the letter is followed by a text commentary, which is …
Category: Philosophy
Justice and strength – Pascal
In Fragment 94, Blaise Pascal reflects on the relationship between justice and strength. Here are successive quotations from the original text, accompanied by a literal commentary on the fragment, particularly instructive …
Freedom of expression and Baruch Spinoza
Starting from the principle that “It is not possible […] for a man to abdicate his thought and submit it absolutely to that of others”, Baruch Spinoza introduces the idea …
What is the Philosopher King?
The philosopher king is a concept that comes to us from Plato. In the Republic, book V, 473d, Plato insists that philosophy and kingship must coincide. Otherwise, the kingdom will …
The government against the people
In Arts de gouverner. From the medieval “regimen” to the concept of government, Michel Senellart sees Machiavelli as the first author to have theorized the confrontation between the people and …
Social classes
Is it fair that the chance of birth gives certain privileges? What about social classes? I. The questioning of privileges in the 18th century In the 18th century, Turgot thought, …