Right and Constituent Power in Spinoza

Abstract In this chapter, I analyse the theory of constituent power developed by the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza constructs a linguistic and conceptual framework to define the relationship between the legal and political spheres, that is, between the normative and factual dimensions, according to an equivalence that is only seemingly paradoxical: the one between jus (right) and potentia (power). Through a juridico-political theory closely tied to his metaphysics, as well as through the study of history (Roman, medieval, Dutch), Spinoza is able to articulate an extremely original position at the heart of early modernity, which will have a profound influence on many later thinkers, such as Carl Schmitt and Antonio Negri.