Unaccommodating Spinoza’s Liberal Theology

Abstract

Abstract This review essay explores Chapter One of Aaron Herold’s recent book, The Democratic Soul: Spinoza, Tocqueville, and Enlightenment Theology. After tracing out the logic of Herold’s reconstruction of “Spinoza’s Liberal Theology,” it suggests a Spinozistic rejoinder to the Tocquevillian critique of Spinoza that Herold develops in his book. Further, it raises the question of Spinoza’s understanding of the scope and character of the project of enlightenment that he envisions. Finally, it points toward a Tocquevillian critique of Spinoza’s liberal theology that Herold suggests but does not explicitly develop.