Anger and indignation in Spinoza

Abstract

The way Spinoza deals with the passions of anger and indignation is part of the general theory of affections as expressed in the third part of Ethics. Affections and all types of passions are not interpreted there as deficiencies or vices of Nature. On the contrary, they are modal expressions of Nature and are explained through universal laws, following the method of geometry. Anger and indignation are characterized by the impulse of anger that generates them, both in the plan of relationships between individuals and in political life. As such, they are sad passions that lessen the potency of being and produce blindness that prevents knowledge. In politics, indignation and anger promote the division and the disagreement that may lead citizens to dissidence and rebellion. To defeat the evils of these passions, Spinoza outlines a provisional moral.