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

Power(Potestas):TheStoryofaJoyful
Typhoon

#SPINOZA///Episode3:Power
(Potentia)vs.Power(Potestas):The
StoryofaJoyfulTyphoon
(http://thefunambulist.net/2013/03/26/spinoza
episode3powerpotentiavspower
March26,2013
potestas/)
Philosophy(http://thefunambulist.net/category/philosophy/)By:LopoldLambert

(http://thefunambulistdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/kircher_114.jpg)
First of all, I would like to share with my readers the story of this article that first took me three hours to write
anddisappearedwhenIpressedpublish!Accordingtoyesterdaysarticlehowever,itdidoccurredastheresult
oftheensembleofcircumstancesthatprecededitinworldhistory,soIsupposethatIshouldnotregretit!
Lets continue to explore the Spinozist conceptology with, today, a contrast that is difficult to be made in
EnglishasthewordpowerincludestwomeaningswhosedifferenceisfundamentalinthephilosophyofSpinoza.
For the purpose of this article I will therefore differentiate the two latin terms of potentia and potestas both
contained in the English word of power (in French we would use the notion of puissance for the former and
pouvoir 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

by

AntonioNegriin1981whenhewasinprison.Theoriginalsubtitleofthisbookissaggiosupotereepotenzain
Baruch Spinoza (essay on the potestas and potential in Baruch Spinozas work). Unfortunately, Michael Hardt,
Negris friend and translator of the English version did not find a way to reconcile this problem and added a
differentsubtitle,ThePowerofSpinozasMetaphysicsandPolitics.
Imightfirsttrytoexplainthedifferencebetweenpotestasandpotentiainasimplewaybydefiningtheformeras
arelationshiptoanotherbodywhilethelatterasacapacityoranintensitytouseaDeleuzianterminology.The
potestas needs indeed a referent to dominate or to be dominated by to effectuate itself. On the contrary, the
potentiaisarelationshiptothewholeworld(SpinozamightsayGodbutsincehisgodisimmanent,thisisthe
same

thing)

in

the

composition

of

form

of

harmony.

In

the

Abcdaire

(http://thefunambulist.net/2011/06/21/deleuzeabecedaire/)(JforJoy),GillesDeleuzehelpsustounderstandthis
differencewhileexplainingtheconceptofjoyandsadness(mytranslation,theoriginalFrenchtranscriptisatthe
endofthearticle):

Thereisnobadpower(puissance),whatisbad,weshouldsayisthelowestdegreeofthepower
(puissance). And the lowest degree of the power (puissance), it is the power (pouvoir). I mean,
what is malice? Malice consists in preventing someone to do what he can, malice consists in
preventingsomeonetodo,toeffectuatehispower(puissance).Therefore,thereisnobadpower
(puissance), there are malicious powers (pouvoirs). Perhaps that all power (pouvoir) is malicious
bynature.Maybenot,maybeitistooeasytosayso[]Power(pouvoir)isalwaysanobstacle
to the effectuation of powers (puissances). I would say, any power (pouvoir) is sad. Yes, even if
thosewhohavethepower(pouvoir)areveryjoyfultohaveit,itisasadjoytherearesadjoys.
Onthecontrary,joyistheeffectuationofapower(puissance).Onceagain,Idontknowanypower
(puissance) that is malicious. The typhoon is a power (puissance), it enjoys itself in its very soul
butitdoesnotenjoybecauseitdestroyshouses,itenjoysbecauseitexists.Toenjoyistoenjoy
being what we are, I mean, to be where we are. Of course, it does not mean to be happy with
ourselves,notatall.Joyisthepleasureoftheconquest(conqute) as Nietzsche would say. But
conquestinthatsense,doesnotmeantoenslavepeopleofcourse.Conquestisforexample,for
paintertoconquestthecolor.Yes,thatyes,thatisaconquest,yeahherethisisjoy.
In other words, and to go back to the notion of joy as we know it familiarly, the moment of true joy that we
probablyallexperiencedoneday(likeDeleuzestyphoon)occurswheneverythingaroundusandinusseemsto
connect in a harmonious manner: what we see, what we hear, what we smell, how we feel etc. Whoever
experiencedthisfeelingwouldhavetroubleimaginingthatsuchpurehappinesscouldoccurwhenexpressinga
domination towards another individual. Using the play on word that Deleuze almost gives us, the sad joy he
evokes might be observed more particularly in the literature of Sade in which pleasure is achieved through the
absolutedominationofabodyoveranother(seeprevious article (http://thefunambulist.net/2011/07/03/literature
theabsolutepowerofabodyoveranotherwiththemarquisdesade/)). However, such a pleasure through its
orgasmic and violent characteristics does not seem to register within Spinozas concept of joy. The French
wordofjouissance,initsneutralitywouldprobablybemoreappropriatetoreceivethismeaning,buthereagain,
theEnglishlanguagemissesawordtoexpressit.
LetusgobacktotheSavageAnomalyandhowA.NegriassociatethephilosophyoftheEthics(1677)withthe
more pragmatic (in the sense of Machiavels) TheologicoPolitical Treatise (1670) and Political Treatise (1675).
Negris thesis is that the two latter texts should not be interpreted the same way than Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan (1651) and JeanJacques Rousseaus Social Contract (1762) as it has been repeatedly done in their
varioushistoricalinterpretations.Whilethosetwobookspresupposesahumannature(afundamentallybadone
forHobbes,afundamentallygoodoneforRousseau)anddramatizesasortofmythicaloriginaleventforwhich
individualswouldhavecedesomeoftheirrightstocomposeasociety,Spinozadoesnotdramatize(andthus
probably does not historicize either) anything he simply examine the relationships of the multitude with its
government.Forhim,TheStateconstitutesthemultitudeseffectuationofitspotentia.Whetherthegovernment
isanembodimentofTheStateornotisalmostirrelevant.Ofcourse,ifitisnot,themultitudemayoverthrowit
toreplaceitbyanotherinanattempttogetclosertotheexpressionofitscollectiveproduceddesire.

Let us not forget however, that the formulation of the multitudes desire often constitutes an imperfect
understanding (if not, sometimes, a complete misunderstanding) of its potentia as the latter is related to the
wholeworldandcannotfullyarticulatedandexpressed.Spinoza,whohadbeenhorrifiedbytheassassinationof
the De Witt Brothers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_de_Witt) by a crowd in 1672, knew too well that the
expression of the multitudes desire has sometimes more to do with the potestas than with the potentia. A
legitimate political act would therefore constitute in an act that would formulate its desire as close as possible
from the essence of its potentia. As I wrote in the last two articles, understanding the relation to the world is
thereforeacrucialpointforourattempttoactpolitically,tobejoyful.
Appendix:

original

French

transcript

of

Gilles

Deleuze

in

the

Abcdaire:

(http://thefunambulist.net/2011/06/21/deleuzeabecedaire/)
ilnyapasdepuissancesmauvaises,pasdepuissancesmauvaise,cequiestmauvais,ilfaudraitdire,cestle
plus bas degr de la puissance. Et le plus bas degr de la puissance, cest le pouvoir. Je veux dire, la
mchancet, cest quoi? Cest empcher quelquun de faire ce quil peut, la mchancet cest empcher
quelquundefaire,deffectuersapuissance.Sibienquilnyapasdepuissancesmauvaises,ilyadespouvoirs
mchants. Et peuttre que tout pouvoir, tout pouvoir est mchant par nature. Pas forcment, cest peuttre
tropfacilededirea()Lepouvoir,cesttoujoursunobstaclemisleffectuationdespuissances.Jedirais,
tout pouvoir est triste. Oui, mme si ceux qui ont le pouvoir se rjouissent beaucoup de lavoir, cest une joie
triste,hein,ilyadesjoiestristes,cestunejoietriste.Enrevanche,lajoie,cestleffectuationdunepuissance.
Encoreunefois,jeneconnaispasdepuissancesquisoientmchantes.Letyphonestunepuissance,ildoitse
rjouirdanssonmemaiscestpasdabattrelesmaisonsdontilserjouit,cestdtre.Serjouir,cestse
rjouir dtre ce quon est, cest dire, dtre arriv l o on en est. Alors, cest pas, cest pas la joie de soi
mme,cestpasunejoie,cestpastrecontentdesoi,lajoie,pasdutout,cestpasleplaisirdtrecontentde
soi. Cest, cest le plaisir de la conqute, comme disait Nietzsche. Mais la conqute a ne consiste pas
asservir des gens. La conqute, cest par exemple pour un peintre, conqurir la couleur. Oui, a, oui, a cest
uneconqute.Ouais.L,cestlajoie.

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