Potentia

Justin Steinberg, Brooklyn College, Journal of the History of Philosophy I applaud Field for subjecting to rigorous examination -- with the help of some seventeenth-century friends -- the polysemous concept of "power". I very much hope that Potentia is read widely, not only by historians of political philosophy, but also by political theorists.

Boleslaw Z. Kabala, Tarleton State University, Perspectives on Politics In an unsettled time when democracy is contested and populists claim to speak for the people, Sandra Leonie Field's important and insightful Potentia: Hobbes and Spinoza on Power and Popular Politics critically examines two radical democratic currents of thought, the American public law tradition and European post-Marxism.

Razvan Ioan, New Europe College, Global Intellectual History She manages the rare feat of combining depth of analysis in the history of philosophy with creating a conceptual framework helpful in better understanding current events on the world stage.

Arash Abizadeh, McGill University Field's Potentia argues that because Hobbes, under the influence of scholasticism, initially conceived of power in highly individualistic terms, he was forced to reduce collective power to mere juridical authority. But in his mature works, Field argues, Hobbes reconceived power as essentially relational--as the property of an entire social structure--and could consequently highlight more informal sources of collective power that threaten state authority. Field's reading is insightful, creative, bold, and well-argued, and she couples it with an equally insightful reading of Spinoza to prefigure her own positive account of collective, popular power.

S. A. Lloyd, University of Southern California Learned, insightful, and engaging, Sandra Field's deployment of 17th C. political philosophy to illuminate our contemporary thinking about the meaning and proper expression of popular power proves fruitful. Investigating the interrelation of potestas and potentia, Field provides formidable arguments against plebiscitary and mass movement paradigms, along with plausible arguments for her own conception of popular power as the state's durable maintenance of citizen equality and participation. Students of Hobbes, Spinoza, and democratic theory alike will find value in Field's book.

Yitzhak Y. Melamed, Johns Hopkins University This is a splendid, deep, and timely study of the foundation of modern democratic theory as reflected in the works of Thomas Hobbes and Benedict de Spinoza, the two giants of modern political philosophy. Free from sentimental illusions, Field provides a compelling and nuanced account of genuine popular power, an account that is invaluable for reorienting contemporary political action.

Hasana Sharp, McGill University This book represents a provocative and engaging approach to 17th century political philosophy. Field allies Hobbes and Spinoza against populist romanticism and democratic comp...

Sandra Leonie Field is Assistant Professor of Humanities (Philosophy) at Yale-NUS College, Singapore.

Acknowledgements Note on sources 1. Introduction Part I: Hobbes 2. Relational power 3. Juridical politics 4. The political problem 5. Repressive Egalitarianism Part II: Spinoza 6. Ethics and efficacy 7. The Power of producing effects 8. Nature's indifference 9. Civic strengthening Bibliography Index