SPINOZA AND THE RISE OF DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The idea of democracy is as old as it is today. From Herodotus, who spoke of isonomy or equality before the law, and Pericles, who already used the term democracy or government of the people, to the complex systems of our democracies, twenty-five centuries have passed and this idea has evolved. It is not, however, our intention to reconstruct this evolution here, but to draw up a very brief synthesis of Spinoza’s democratic ideas and to ask about their historical significance and their relevance.