Prima Significatione: A Definição nominal da Servidão humana no Prefácio da Parte IV da Ética de Benedictus de Spinoza

Abstract

Spinoza defines, at first, serfdom in the preface of the EIV of his greatest work, namely, Ethics, according to the legal technical terms: sui iuris, abnoxius (among other terms). For servitude is defined as human impotence to regulate (coercendis) and moderate (moderandis) the strength of affections (afectuum viribus) because this subjected not is under the jurisdiction of oneself (sui iuris) and shall be subjected (abnoxius) to the power of fortune (fortunae potestate).Thus, this work has the intention to expose the problem of human bondage in the fourth part of the Dutch philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza’s Ethics (1632/1677).We will try to expose the nominal definition of human bondage that will be understood in the legal field. Obeying thus a precept of Spinoza to examine, first, the first meaning of a term, and the first meaning of human bondage is legal. For this, we use the philosophical critical reading of the main references of the author’s work, Ethica ordine geometric demonstrata especially in part four entitled “Human servitude or strength of affections” (De servitute humana seu de affectuum viribus). With that in conclusion we have that human bondage not only represent the consequences of the subjection of man by passion, but also refers to the state of man in which he loses his right (ius) and thus along its dominance among others things, and so is under the power of Fiery Fortuna.