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Counsel, Collegiality, and Democracy

This chapter studies the first of two remedies that Spinoza proposes against prejudice, deceit, and flattery. This first remedy consists in reform of the institutions of political counsel. Denouncing the traditional courtly systems of privy counselors, he envisages a broader public sphere of free philosophizing as a source of political advice for the sovereign powers. This conception forms the background for a discussion of absolutism, political resistance, and democratic deliberation and collegiality. Finally, in conclusion, the chapter addresses Spinoza’s conception of the “best citizens” in a free republic, comparing the figure with Caspar Barlaeus’s “wise merchants.”