French Literature Reviews - 2026

Vittorio Morfino, Le Temps et l’Occasion, La rencontre Spinoza-Machiavel
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Bibliographic reference: Vittorio Morfino, Le Temps et l’Occasion, La rencontre Spinoza-Machiavel, Classiques Garnier, collection "Les Anciens et les Modernes – Études de philosophie", 2012. EAN13: 9782812403750. 298 p. €29

Le Temps et l'Occasion. La rencontre Spinoza-Machiavel

This book traces Spinoza's encounter with Machiavelli through the material traces he left behind: from the analysis of his library and major political texts to his metaphysical construction, this encounter can be explored across its manifold implications. It opens up a new perspective for reading Spinoza's philosophy that resists reduction to the two major trajectories of modern Spinozism: the philosophy of history and nihilism.

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An article dedicated to this book can be read on the website laviedesidees.fr:

"Machiavel et Spinoza, le temps d'une rencontre", by G. Bras.

"In a groundbreaking work, Vittorio Morfino demonstrates the profound impact of Machiavelli on Spinoza's philosophy: the definitive rejection of all temporal linearity and a novel way of conceptualizing historical causality."

The study belongs to the broad tradition of modern European philosophy and the history of political thought, engaging with questions of metaphysics, historical causality, and the complex relations between seventeenth-century rationalism and Renaissance republicanism. The volume examines how material traces left by Baruch Spinoza, including his personal library and major political writings, point toward a sustained engagement with the works of Niccolò Machiavelli. Rather than positioning these thinkers within a teleological view of modernity, the text investigates the theoretical implications of this intellectual convergence across several dimensions of Spinozist philosophy. By moving away from traditional interpretations that read Spinoza through the lens of a philosophy of history or nihilism, the analysis opens up alternative paths for understanding early modern political ontology. Readers interested in the history of philosophy, seventeenth-century metaphysics, and the transmission of Renaissance political ideas may find this volume relevant to their pursuits.