Introduction : Spinoza's provocation

Jacobi may not be right in the sense in which he made this point, namely, as a polemic against the Enlightenment and transcendental idealism. But he has been vindicated in the sense that Spinoza’s philosophy has been appropriated by any conceivable philosophical standpoint. Spinoza has been presented both as a communist or as a liberal, as a democrat or as a republican, as a materialist or as an idealist, as an atheist or as “God intoxicated,” as a proponent of “might is right” and as a fierce critic of power. The list above can be expanded but that is not necessary here. Its key insight is clear: if something is all encompassing so as to include every difference within it, then it runs the risk of itself becoming indifferent, lacking conceptual rigour and ultimately without impact. We can formulate the peril of the elasticity that characterizes Spinoza’s reception in the form of a rhetorical question: If Spinoza can stand for everything, then can he really stand for anything at all?