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Translation by Pedro H. G. Muniz Spinoza bases his ethical and political theories on a geometric study of human affects. The root of these affects is the effort of each one to persevere in its being, rationally or not. The effects of this passional production are complicated by the spontaneous imitation of the affects of others and by the opacity of each individual to himself. The power of these individuals is translated, on a personal level, by a singular becoming; on the political level, by a permanent natural right which remains in fact a passionate right and makes sometimes each one a potential enemy of the State.