BENTO ESPINOSA (1632-1677) E A TEORIA DAS FORMAS DE GOVERNO

Abstract

The theory of forms of government is one of the recurrent themes in the works of major political theorists. From Plato, Aristotle, to the founders of modern Western political thought - Machiavelli, Hobbes, among others - there is a theoretical concern to define and, in many cases, assess, the different ways to govern. The Dutch philosopher Benedict Spinoza is absent from both famous books: The Theory of forms of Government (1976) from Italian jurist Norbert Bobbio; and The Classics of Politics (1991) from Brazilian political scientist Francisco Correa Weffort. The intention here is to retrieve some of the main theories about forms of government – following Bobbio's schema which focuses on the issues: (1) Who governs? (2) How to govern? - and introduce the theory developed by Espinosa - about monarchy, aristocracy and democracy - exploring the differences and similarities of his typology from the previous ones. The main objective is to justify the inclusion of Espinosa among the “classics of politics”, and, for this, we intend to present his political thinking, analyzing to which extent it can be considered “innovative”, but also exploring the aspects he was not able to “overcome” due to his political, social, historical, cultural and religious background.