O ESTADO ENTRE A HISTÓRIA E A ETERNIDADE

The dissolution (or death) of the State is a common concern of all contractualist authors. Most of them consider that the State is a mortal body which, whether good or badly constituted, is unavoidably condemned to dissolve itself. And what about Spinoza? Does he think that the political body, like the human body, is bound to certain, unavoidable, death; or does he think, on the contrary, that the State may last forever? This is the question I pose here, and, to answer it, I analyze several dispersed passages from Theological-Political Treatise and Political Treatise where the topic is (directly or indirectly) addressed. It should emerge clearly from the reading I advance that the problem of State’s death has not only a theoretical interest, but is also related to what are, in Spinoza’s understanding, the practical limits of political science.