Project Gutenberg 1997-07-16 Public domain in the USA. 222 Spinoza, Benedictus de 1632 1677 Spinoza, Benedict of Spinoza, Baruch Espinosa, Baruch de De Spinoza, Benedictus Elwes, R. H. M. (Robert Harvey Monro) 1853 Elwes, Robert Harvey Monro A Theological-Political Treatise [Part IV] Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Theologico-Politicus Joseph B. Yesselman. HTML version by Al Haines. "A Theologico-Political Treatise [Part IV]" by Baruch Spinoza is a philosophical treatise written in the late 17th century. This part of the work examines the foundations of state governance, the natural and civil rights of individuals, and the complex relationship between religion and sovereign authority. Through these discussions, Spinoza explores the implications of political power and the role of individuals within a society organized under a sovereign, with particular references to historical examples such as the Hebrew republic. The opening of the treatise introduces key concepts of natural rights and the authority of the sovereign while articulating a framework for understanding governance. It emphasizes that individuals retain certain rights even when they submit to state power, asserting that the existence of a sovereign does not eliminate personal agency. Spinoza discusses the transition from a state of nature to civil society, outlining how individuals, motivated by self-preservation, collectively agree to form a government that acts in the interests of the citizenry. This section sets the foundation for the subsequent arguments regarding the nature of authority, the relationship between divine law and sovereign power, and the rights of individuals in a political and religious context. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 50.5 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Philosophy and religion -- Early works to 1800 Free thought -- Early works to 1800 Political science -- Early works to 1800 B Text Philosophy Category: History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750) Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Religion/Spirituality Category: Politics 192090 2025-07-01T07:54:14.861297 text/html 192770 2021-01-23T11:01:22 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 67500 2021-01-23T11:01:45 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 156715 2025-07-01T07:54:20.501255 application/epub+zip 155378 2025-07-01T07:54:17.722300 application/epub+zip 136400 2025-07-01T07:54:16.682323 application/epub+zip 306992 2025-07-01T07:54:22.647240 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 295765 2025-07-01T07:54:19.883289 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 266147 2022-09-01T09:03:36.153760 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 183272 2025-07-01T07:54:14.575300 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 183442 2021-01-23T10:51:18 text/plain; charset=utf-8 66158 2021-01-23T11:01:01 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 20167 2025-07-01T07:54:22.773232 application/rdf+xml 15722 2025-07-01T07:54:17.169264 image/jpeg 3686 2025-07-01T07:54:16.923272 image/jpeg 146147 2025-07-01T07:54:14.877292 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia