DEBITUS ORDO. TRADIZIONE E ORIGINALITÀ NEL METODO DI SPINOZA.

Debitus ordo. Tradition and originality of method in Spinoza. This research explores the philosophical significance of the ordo geometricus in Spinoza, focusing on the following three points: the controversial question of the rapport between form and content in his Ethica; the relationship between ordo and methodus in Spinoza; and the origin and tradition of ordo geometricus relative to Spinozian application. Concordant with the interpretation that there is a profound connection in Spinoza between form and content and the coincidence of ordo and methodus, the thesis follows three paths of inquiry: the first concerns the identification of the origin and history of the geometric method; the second is a detailed analysis of Spinoza’s works intended to demonstrate how the peculiar articulation of his philosophy presupposes this convergence of form and content and of ordo and methodus; the third concerns the ethical implications of the ordo geometricus. For the first part, which considers the intersection of logic and mathematics as constituent elements of the modern geometric method, both traditions are traced from their ancient origins to their physiognomy in the late sixteenth century. With regard to logic the predominant figures of reference are Aristotle and Zabarella for their hypothetical influence upon Spinoza; while for mathematics our point of departure is Euclid and his commentators Pappo and Proclo, up to the reform introduced by mathematicians at the end of the sixteenth century, particularly Clavio. This overview of the confluence of logic and mathematics also subsumes the positions of Hobbes and Descartes, especially the concepts of analysis and synthesis and the doctrine of definition. Our second path of inquiry, which deals principally with textual investigation, focuses particularly on those aspects of Spinoza’s philosophy that may be considered fundamental with respect to the intrinsic use of the ordo geometricus: the idea of truth as index sui, the doctrine of parallelism, the doctrine of definition, and the concept of God. In conclusion we turn to another, ulterior aspect of the significance of geometric order in Spinoza, specifically the ethical implications of the ordo geometricus: the scientific approach to affects, the relationship between affectus and passio, the deduction of passions from the concept of conatus, the debitus ordo of the intellect as order of action and liberation from the oppression of passions. The entire work aims at showing how in Spinoza’s thought the geometric order of the Ethica is the necessary consequence of the coincidence between the order of being, order of knowing and order of joy, and of the identification of methodus and ordo.