The Relationship Between Religion and the State in the Context of Freedom of Thought, Belief and Expression in Spinoza

Abstract

Spinoza is a man who attracts attention in the history of philosophy and philosophical thought mainly with his monistic ontology and pantheistic theology. However, he is also an important doctrinaire of moral and politic. Especially in his political teaching, it can be said that he has special and original views on freedom of thought and expression and the relationship between religion and the state that transcend the boundaries of his era, and that he is an important defender of democracy and freedom of thought in his era. However, due to the fact that his ontological and theological views were brought to the forefront in his philosophy, his views on morality and politics seem to have been somewhat left in the background and ignored. In this work, Spinoza's views on both freedom of thought and expression and the relationship between religion and the state are tried to be discussed in the context of his general philosophy.