spinoza feat descartes

Spinoza at first worked in the framework of the Cartesian philosophy, publishing in 1663 a book entitled Principles of the Philosophy of René Descartes. Another early work, the posthumously published Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, contains themes that were central to Descartes’ investigation of knowledge. It also contains hints of the metaphysics unfolded in the posthumously published Ethics, the capstone of Spinoza's philosophical career. In the Emendation of the Intellect, Spinoza (like Descartes) was …showed first 75 words of 5060 total…

…showed last 75 words of 5060 total…a proper reverence for God, a respect for other people, and a disregard for what is beyond one's power. But he ends paradoxically, stating that citizens should be governed and led "so as to do freely what is best" (Ethics, Part II, Scholium to Proposition 49). It is only in a very rarified sense that people are able to act freely, and only a relative sense in which they may do what is best. [c2p]