Tratado teológico-político

Spinoza began writing his Theological-Political Treatise (TTP) in 1665 in the context of a particular Holland. From 1650 to 1672 the country was governed without a stadtholderate, an organ of power inherited from the times when the Netherlands was a County of Spain, which entailed the military leadership of the State[1]. From 1653, power passed into the hands of the liberal Jan De Witt. The period of his government coincided with the moment of maximum splendor of Holland, in which freedom of opinion and worship were, to a great extent, guaranteed by the State. Spinoza himself states in his Preface to the TTP “that we have had the rare good fortune to live in a State where everyone is granted full freedom to express their opinion and worship God according to their own judgment, and where freedom is the most precious and sweetest thing”[2].

Spinoza began writing his Theological-Political Treatise (TTP) in 1665 in the context of a particular Holland. From 1650 to 1672 the country was governed without a stadtholderate, an organ of power inherited from the times when the Netherlands was a County of Spain, which entailed the military leadership of the State[1]. From 1653, power passed into the hands of the liberal Jan De Witt. The period of his government coincided with the moment of maximum splendor of Holland, in which freedom of opinion and worship were, to a great extent, guaranteed by the State. Spinoza himself states in his Preface to the TTP “that we have had the rare good fortune to live in a State where everyone is granted full freedom to express their opinion and worship God according to their own judgment, and where freedom is the most precious and sweetest thing”[2].