Theologico-Political Treatise, Part I

What it is

This is the opening part of Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise, in an English text on Wikisource. The work is dated 1670. It is a treatise on prophecy and superstition. The text opens with a preface, numbered in paragraphs, and this English text is a translation.

Why it matters

The preface argues that people would never be superstitious if they could govern their circumstances by fixed rules or if fortune always favoured them. Because life often leaves them in situations where rules fail, they swing between hope and fear and become prone to credulity. Spinoza also says that when people are prosperous they reject advice, while in adversity they beg help from anyone. The treatise shows his interest in how religion and belief operate in human life, a theme he develops in the rest of the work.

Look closer

• Spinoza says superstition grows from hope and fear. Does this explanation still fit people you know, and why or why not?
• Who does the word we include in this preface, and does Spinoza count himself among those he describes?
• Does he describe people who are prosperous or people in trouble more harshly, and what does that choice suggest?