Mauricio Rocha

The spinozian critical fortune records that, starting withproposition 27 of Ethics Part iii, something completely original appearsin the examination of affective life: the imitation of affections. Spinoza’snovelty, in comparison with his contemporaries, is to describe theproduction of affections no longer from an external object, but from theconduct of “something”, or “someone”, on an object - considering thatthis production is rooted in the fact that we imagine that this “someone”or that “something” is similar to us. The proposition links a longdeductive sequence that runs through the rest of Part iii, supports thecrucial Part iv propositions on politics and law and reaches the PoliticalTreaty [i, v]. Our intention is to evaluate the meanings of this propositionin Spinoza’s political thought, based on a review of this problemin critical fortune - taking into account some passages in the works ofPrimo Levi. In particular the “Chemistry Test”, chapter ofthis book If This Is a Man? [Se questo è un uomo?].

Entre nós, o aparente consenso atual sobre o ensino de filosofia nos cursosmédios, e a proposta de sua inserção nos exames de acesso ao ensino superiorsão sinais interessantes, dado o caráter deceptivo e aporético da atividadefilosófica, que faz dela uma convidada impertinente ao banquete do consensosobre o que é “formar cidadãos”. Avaliamos que no hábito de associar Filosofiae cidadania persiste um léxico cujo sentido se desfaz – o que se nota, em todocaso, se estivermos atentos às alterações profundas da ordem econômica, jurídica,política e cultural na atualidade. Caberia então sondar os vínculos entre a noçãode cidadania e a imagem do que é pensar, levando em conta as condiçõespresentes de escolarização e de produção e circulação da cultura.The current consensus among us on teaching philosophy in high schools, andthe proposal of inserting it in the university access examinations are interestingsigns, given the deceptive and aporetic character of philosophical activity.These features make philosophy an impertinent guest in the consensus banqueton what it is to “shape citizens”. With the habit of associating philosophy andcitizenship, we observe that there is a lexicon remaining whose sense has comeapart. At any rate, this can be seen when we are alert to the deep changes in theeconomic, legal, political and cultural orders of our time. It would thus beappropriate to check the links between the notion of citizenship and image ofwhat it is to think. As such, we can better account for the present conditions ofschooling as well as the production and circulation of culture