Full Idea
Only insofar as men live according to the guidance of reason, must they always agree in nature.
Gist of Idea
Men only agree in nature if they are guided by reason
Source
Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], IV Pr 35)
Book Reference
Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics', ed/tr. Curley,Edwin [Penguin 1996], p.132
A Reaction
A nice expression of the guiding idea of the Enlightenment - that consensus is the defining characteristic of rationality. Spinoza's politics emerges from this idea.
Related Idea
Idea 21872 We seek our own advantage, and virtue is doing this rationally [Spinoza]