Book Review: Die Immanenz der Macht. Politische Theorie nach Spinoza [The immanence of power. Political theory after/according to Spinoza], by Martin Saar

• Date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0090591717718516
• Author: Marin Terpstra
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Reviews 997

placed squarely in the hands of an armed people, enabling them “to force the

elite to include them” (414) in a meaningful and ongoing way.

Readers familiar with Zuckert’s work will not be surprised by the out-

standing quality of textual analysis on display in Machiavelli’s Politics. The

book is replete with nuanced and captivating insights that no review, however

long, could possibly capture. Even more impressive is the fact that Zuckert’s

attention to detail never compromises the book’s argumentative focus or

momentum. Because no good deed goes unpunished, the persuasiveness of

Zuckert’s case for reading Machiavelli’s corpus as an integrated whole will

surely mean that some will hunger for more: not just attention to Machiavelli’s

other fictional works, like Belfagor and The Golden Ass, but also his

Discourse on Florentine Government and other short political writings.

Nevertheless, Machiavelli’s Politics is a massive achievement that will

undoubtedly command the attention of Machiavelli scholars for generations

and redefine how we read this most critical thinker.

Die Immanenz der Macht. Politische Theorie nach Spinoza [The immanence of

power. Political theory after/according to Spinoza], by Martin Saar. Frankfurt a/M:

Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft. 2013.

Reviewed by: Marin Terpstra, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands

DOI: 10.1177/0090591717718516

Why should someone interested in a theoretical account or critical examina-

tion of modern society, its forms of government, its conflicts, and its struggle

with democracy and freedom, read Spinoza these days? Is Spinoza’s work of

any interest, apart from its historical significance? Without doubt, his thought

has been a major impulse to a way of thinking and living that has shaped the

modernisation of society and politics. Jonathan Israel (Radical Enlightenment

or A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual

Origins of Modern Democracy), to name only one historian, has made

Spinoza’s historical impact clear enough. But the question remains whether

this way of thinking could still help us. In his book, Martin Saar tries to con-

vince us that Spinoza has much more to offer today, especially with regards

to our conception of power. His task was made easier by others who have

preceded him in this attempt. In the sixties and seventies, first of all in France,

we witness a revival of interest in Spinoza’s philosophy, in which the concept

of power (potentia) receives privileged attention. Two names have to be