Power Necessity and Freedom in Spinoza

Two key features mark out Emilia Giancotti’s approach as unique: with a Marxist background, she focused heavily on political themes – liberty, democracy, power, the state and the individual; she also developed a historiographical approach and engaged in philological work to establish solid and reliable texts as the very basis of her interpretation of Spinoza’s thought. Hers is the most authoritative Italian translation of the Ethics. Giancotti’s specific contribution to Spinoza studies was that of uniting the philological rigour of her approach to the texts to a lucid yet passionate reading of the Dutch philosopher’s thinking. For three decades Emilia Giancotti was the central figure in Spinoza Studies in Italy. She organised international conferences on Spinoza and participated in international debates, during a time in which Spinoza studies were often confined within national boundaries. This collection of her most influential essays brings the work of this preeminent scholar of Spinoza studies in Italy to a wider English-speaking audience for the first time.