The A. inquires whether the freedom of thought and of religion demanded by Spinoza on the interior level is not jeopardized by his view of political authority exercising total power on the level of external expression. For this purpose the A. examines chapters 16-20 of the Tractatus theologico-politicus. He observes that the reasons invoked by Spinoza in order to recommend a degree of freedom of expression in regard to thought and religion are purely pragmatic. In any case this freedom may never serve as a pretext for questioning political authority, which as the expression of the divine power is subject to no other law than that of maintaining its existence. Spinoza's political views are rooted in a pessimistic view of human nature and the...