The Stakes of Spinoza’s Language: A Moderate Necessitarian Understanding of \u27Ethics\u27 and Spinoza’s Conception of Freedom as Both Positive and Negative Liberty

Abstract

This paper explores different readings of Spinoza\u27s Ethics with a specific focus on Spinoza\u27s understanding of the relationship between infinite and finite modes in his constructed universe. These different readings suggest that Spinoza\u27s conception of human freedom can be read both as examples of positive liberty and negative liberty