#SPINOZA///Episode3:Power(Potentia)vs.Power(Potestas):TheStoryofaJoyfulTyphoon

March26,2013

#SPINOZA///Episode3:Power(Potentia)vs.Power(Potestas):The

StoryofaJoyfulTyphoon(http://thefunambulist.net/2013/03/26/spinozaepisode3powerpotentiavspowerpotestas/)Philosophy(http://thefunambulist.net/category/philosophy/)By:LopoldLambert

(http://thefunambulistdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/kircher_114.jpg)

Firstofall, Iwould like tosharewithmyreaders thestoryof thisarticle that first tookme threehours towriteanddisappearedwhenIpressedpublish!Accordingtoyesterdaysarticlehowever,itdidoccurredastheresultoftheensembleofcircumstancesthatprecededitinworldhistory,soIsupposethatIshouldnotregretit!

Lets continue to explore the Spinozist conceptology with, today, a contrast that is difficult to be made inEnglishasthewordpowerincludestwomeaningswhosedifferenceisfundamentalinthephilosophyofSpinoza.For the purpose of this article I will therefore differentiate the two latin terms of potentia and potestas bothcontained in the English word of power (in French we would use the notion of puissance for the former andpouvoir for the latter). The referent and complex book examining this question is the Savage Anomaly(http://books.google.com/books?id=eHXHUJiZcN8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false) written byAntonioNegriin1981whenhewasinprison.TheoriginalsubtitleofthisbookissaggiosupotereepotenzainBaruchSpinoza (essayon thepotestasandpotential inBaruchSpinozaswork).Unfortunately,MichaelHardt,Negris friend and translator of the English version did not find a way to reconcile this problem and added adifferentsubtitle,ThePowerofSpinozasMetaphysicsandPolitics.

ImightfirsttrytoexplainthedifferencebetweenpotestasandpotentiainasimplewaybydefiningtheformerasarelationshiptoanotherbodywhilethelatterasacapacityoranintensitytouseaDeleuzianterminology.Thepotestas needs indeed a referent to dominate or to be dominated by to effectuate itself.On the contrary, thepotentiaisarelationship to thewholeworld(SpinozamightsayGodbutsincehisgod is immanent, this is thesame thing) in the composition of a form of harmony. In the Abcdaire

(http://thefunambulist.net/2011/06/21/deleuzeabecedaire/)(JforJoy),GillesDeleuzehelpsustounderstandthisdifferencewhileexplainingtheconceptofjoyandsadness(mytranslation,theoriginalFrenchtranscriptisattheendofthearticle):

Thereisnobadpower(puissance),whatisbad,weshouldsayisthelowestdegreeofthepower(puissance).And the lowest degreeof the power (puissance), it is the power (pouvoir). Imean,what is malice? Malice consists in preventing someone to do what he can, malice consists inpreventingsomeonetodo,toeffectuatehispower(puissance).Therefore,thereisnobadpower(puissance), therearemaliciouspowers (pouvoirs).Perhaps thatallpower (pouvoir) ismaliciousbynature.Maybenot,maybeitistooeasytosayso[]Power(pouvoir)isalwaysanobstacleto theeffectuationofpowers (puissances). Iwouldsay,anypower (pouvoir) is sad.Yes, even ifthosewhohavethepower(pouvoir)areveryjoyfultohaveit,itisasadjoytherearesadjoys.Onthecontrary,joyistheeffectuationofapower(puissance).Onceagain,Idontknowanypower(puissance) that ismalicious.The typhoon isapower (puissance), it enjoys itself in its very soulbutitdoesnotenjoybecauseitdestroyshouses,itenjoysbecauseitexists.Toenjoyistoenjoybeingwhatweare, Imean, tobewhereweare.Ofcourse, itdoesnotmeantobehappywithourselves,notatall.Joy is thepleasureof theconquest(conqute)asNietzschewouldsay.Butconquestinthatsense,doesnotmeantoenslavepeopleofcourse.Conquestisforexample,forpaintertoconquestthecolor.Yes,thatyes,thatisaconquest,yeahherethisisjoy.

In other words, and to go back to the notion of joy as we know it familiarly, themoment of true joy that weprobablyallexperiencedoneday(likeDeleuzestyphoon)occurswheneverythingaroundusandinusseemstoconnect in a harmonious manner: what we see, what we hear, what we smell, how we feel etc. Whoeverexperiencedthisfeelingwouldhavetrouble imaginingthatsuchpurehappinesscouldoccurwhenexpressingadomination towards another individual. Using the play on word that Deleuze almost gives us, the sad joy heevokesmightbeobservedmoreparticularly in the literatureofSade inwhichpleasure isachieved through theabsolutedominationofabodyoveranother(seepreviousarticle (http://thefunambulist.net/2011/07/03/literaturetheabsolutepowerofabodyoveranotherwiththemarquisdesade/)). However, such a pleasure through itsorgasmic and violent characteristics does not seem to register within Spinozas concept of joy. The Frenchwordof jouissance, initsneutralitywouldprobablybemoreappropriatetoreceivethismeaning,buthereagain,theEnglishlanguagemissesawordtoexpressit.

LetusgobacktotheSavageAnomalyandhowA.NegriassociatethephilosophyoftheEthics(1677)withthemorepragmatic (in thesenseofMachiavels)TheologicoPoliticalTreatise (1670)andPoliticalTreatise (1675).Negris thesis is that the two latter texts should not be interpreted the same way than Thomas HobbesLeviathan (1651)andJeanJacquesRousseausSocialContract (1762)as ithasbeen repeatedlydone in theirvarioushistoricalinterpretations.Whilethosetwobookspresupposesahumannature(afundamentallybadoneforHobbes,afundamentallygoodoneforRousseau)anddramatizesasortofmythicaloriginaleventforwhichindividualswouldhavecedesomeoftheirrightstocomposeasociety,Spinozadoesnotdramatize(andthusprobably does not historicize either) anything he simply examine the relationships of the multitude with itsgovernment.Forhim,TheStateconstitutesthemultitudeseffectuationofitspotentia.WhetherthegovernmentisanembodimentofTheStateornotisalmostirrelevant.Ofcourse,if it isnot,themultitudemayoverthrowittoreplaceitbyanotherinanattempttogetclosertotheexpressionofitscollectiveproduceddesire.

Let us not forget however, that the formulation of the multitudes desire often constitutes an imperfectunderstanding (if not, sometimes, a completemisunderstanding) of its potentia as the latter is related to thewholeworldandcannotfullyarticulatedandexpressed.Spinoza,whohadbeenhorrifiedbytheassassinationofthe DeWitt Brothers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_de_Witt) by a crowd in 1672, knew too well that theexpression of the multitudes desire has sometimes more to do with the potestas than with the potentia. Alegitimatepoliticalactwould thereforeconstitute inanact thatwould formulate itsdesireascloseaspossiblefrom theessenceof itspotentia. As Iwrote in the last twoarticles, understanding the relation to theworld isthereforeacrucialpointforourattempttoactpolitically,tobejoyful.

Appendix: original French transcript of Gilles Deleuze in the Abcdaire:(http://thefunambulist.net/2011/06/21/deleuzeabecedaire/)

ilnyapasdepuissancesmauvaises,pasdepuissancesmauvaise,cequiestmauvais,ilfaudraitdire,cestleplus bas degr de la puissance. Et le plus bas degr de la puissance, cest le pouvoir. Je veux dire, lamchancet, cest quoi? Cest empcher quelquun de faire ce quil peut, la mchancet cest empcherquelquundefaire,deffectuersapuissance.Sibienquilnyapasdepuissancesmauvaises,ilyadespouvoirsmchants. Et peuttre que tout pouvoir, tout pouvoir estmchant par nature. Pas forcment, cest peuttretropfacilededirea()Lepouvoir,cesttoujoursunobstaclemisleffectuationdespuissances.Jedirais,toutpouvoirest triste.Oui,mmesi ceuxquiont lepouvoir se rjouissentbeaucoupde lavoir, cestune joietriste,hein,ilyadesjoiestristes,cestunejoietriste.Enrevanche,lajoie,cestleffectuationdunepuissance.Encoreunefois,jeneconnaispasdepuissancesquisoientmchantes.Letyphonestunepuissance,ildoitserjouirdanssonmemaiscestpasdabattre lesmaisonsdont ilserjouit,cestdtre.Serjouir,cestserjouirdtrecequonest, cestdire,dtrearriv loonenest.Alors, cestpas,cestpas la joiedesoimme,cestpasunejoie,cestpastrecontentdesoi,lajoie,pasdutout,cestpasleplaisirdtrecontentdesoi. Cest, cest le plaisir de la conqute, comme disait Nietzsche. Mais la conqute a ne consiste pas asservirdesgens.Laconqute,cestparexemplepourunpeintre,conqurir lacouleur.Oui,a,oui,acestuneconqute.Ouais.L,cestlajoie.

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