Single Idea 21874

[catalogued under 24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / c. A unified people]

Full Idea

Man can wish for nothing more helpful to the preservation of his being than that all should so agree in all things that the minds and bodies of all would compose, as it were, one mind and one body.

Gist of Idea

The ideal for human preservation is unanimity among people

Source

Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], IV Pr 18S)

Book Reference

Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics', ed/tr. Curley,Edwin [Penguin 1996], p.126


A Reaction

There has never been a more glorious vision of a unified people than this, which epitomises Enlightenment optimism. It may be a little on the optimistic side. We might at least hope that rational education encourages the convergence.