Spinoza voor de geest: kennis van de passies als medicijn voor gemoedsrust

In this article we will focus on Dutch 17th century philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza's theory of the passions and the relation to human freedom and easiness of mind, as portrayed in his principal work The Ethics. After summarising the main principles of his metaphysical theory, we investigate Spinoza's use of the notion conatus and the role it plays as the foundation of human affective life. Successively this will lead to the examination of the working of the passions, and the important role of imagination and association tied to it. As Spinoza's conception of freedom is closely linked to the
epistemological question of gathering adequate ideas as much as possible, we will proceed by paying attention to the existing relation between passions and inadequate knowledge. We will conclude by showing how in some cases adequate knowledge is capable of restraining passions, while in others it simply fails to do so.