The Spinozan Alternative. Xxxxxxx’s model of the human individual, as forged from the same turbulent times as the liberal conception, takes seriously the idea of human differentiation and the idea of diversity in human values, ends, and practices. Relativism of value and the skepticism about human community and knowledge were not obstacles, but rather the starting points for Xxxxxxx. However, Xxxxxxx also recognizes the interconnection and interdependence of humans. His theory of the human individual counters the liberal conception of human nature point for point. Where the liberal individual is taken to be primarily rational, Xxxxxxx’s individual is primarily affective or passionate. Where the liberal individual is understood as motivated by self-interest, Xxxxxxx calls the whole idea of an individual-originating motivation into question once we recognize the extent to which individuals are determined in their desires by those around them. In contrast to this liberal model of human nature, Xxxxxxx’s human individual is primarily affective, connected to Nature and not ‘free’ in the sense that human action is outside of the laws of Nature. Xxxxxxx’s individuals are interdependent and moved by forces outside their control and awareness. Humans are not, however, helpless. They have power which can be joined with others to increase their knowledge of the forces that move them and so enable themselves to become free. For Xxxxxxx, individuals are moved by their conatus, their desire for self-preservation, and so one might argue that his conception of conatus was just that of Xxxxxx, and thus tied to the subjective theory of value and self-interest. However, these desires are themselves caused and shaped by forces external to individuals and often outside of their awareness. Understanding humans as moved by interests and desires that originate within the individual alone ignores the extent to which humans are part of nature. For Xxxxxxx, the forces which affect individuals often involve other human individuals. Ignorant of the causes of their affects and desires, human individuals are conscious of trying to satisfy their desires, and so think themselves to be free in pursuing what are assumed to be self- caused desires, when they are in fact most determined. Becoming free for Spinoza means coming to understand how one is affected by the natural world and by other individuals. Acting on the basis of this social and natural knowledge means increasing one’s power and one’s reason. Reason, ra...
