Convention All Academic Convention can solve the abstract management needs for any association's annual meeting. Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf. Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets! Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more! Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering. Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more! Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches! Click here for more information.
Association: Name: American Political Science Association URL: http://www.apsanet.org
Citation: URL: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p150544_index.html Direct Link: HTML Code:

Tetlow, Joanne. "Separate but Unequal: Theology and Philosophy in Locke and Spinoza" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Marriott, Loews Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA, Aug 31, 2006 <Not Available>. 2008-11-26 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p150544_index.html>

Tetlow, J. E. , 2006-08-31 "Separate but Unequal: Theology and Philosophy in Locke and Spinoza" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Marriott, Loews Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA Online <PDF>. 2008-11-26 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p150544_index.html

Publication Type: Proceeding Abstract: John Locke (1632-1704) in his The Reasonableness of Christianity, As delivered in the Scriptures (1695) separates theology and philosophy as does Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677) in his earlier Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (1670); yet, they do so in crucially different ways. For Locke, philosophy has proven insufficient in providing a universal, clear authoritative foundation for morality and truth, while for Spinoza the truth is found in philosophy alone. Although both men were born the same year, and considered early Enlightenment thinkers, Locke and Spinoza are of a different mind when it comes to divine revelation, or the Holy Scriptures. Nevertheless, despite Locke�s separation of theology from philosophy in order to elevate theology, and Spinoza�s contrasting separation, which gives primacy to philosophy, the two are not merely polar opposites. This paper comparatively explores Locke�s articulation of the relation between philosophy and theology in his Reasonableness of Christianity to Spinoza�s in Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. The central issue of why each thinker separates theology and philosophy will be explored in terms of their view of Christianity, Scripture, and politics. Similarities exist in their mutual anti-clericalism, hermeneutical approach of sola scriptura, and moral theology. Yet, in the end, Spinoza depreciates Scripture while Locke extols it. This can be explained by Spinoza�s belief that truth is found in philosophy, whilst Christianity is strictly about virtue, piety, and justice. In contrast, Locke believes truth is found in Christianity; both eternal and moral verities can be seen and understood by all of mankind given the perspicuity of Scripture. According to Locke, in the New Testament the complete morality backed by divine authority can be found, and while philosophy is not intrinsically adverse to revelation, it is inadequate for the task. Given Spinoza�s confidence in philosophy, and not Scripture, moderns may expect Spinoza to have a more liberal politics than Locke. This is not the case. Spinoza actually despises the vulgar masses, whilst Locke praises the wisdom of God in providing the truth of the Gospel in such a clear, simple, and plain manner for all mankind. Locke states that Christianity is a religion suited to those of vulgar capacities. Thus, there is a democratic tendency is Locke�s conception of Christianity, hermeneutics of Scripture, and politics. Spinoza is speaking to the elite, the few, who are philosophically sophisticated enough to ascertain eternal truth through use of reason. Locke�s reason is common and universal, whilst Spinoza�s is elitist and particular. Thus, for Locke Scripture contains eternal truth accessible to the common man, or popular understanding; whilst, for Spinoza Scripture does not, it has been adjusted, modified, and reduced to meet the intellectual criteria of the masses; only in philosophy, not theology, can truth be found. Finally, although Spinoza advocates democracy as the true form of government in the Tractatus, his philosophical principles undermine this claim. And, while Locke does not see any particular form of commonwealth as normative, he does advocate consent of the governed in a democratic commonwealth, based on a confidence in man as a rational creature who is free, equal, and independent within political society.

Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and the Nature of Political Membership

Politics, Ethics, and Nature in Spinoza?s Theological-Political Treatise