Deleuze and Negri on the Spinozist Distinction Between Potentia and Potestas: A Brief Outline In Spinoza’s philosophy, potentia refers to the immanent causal power intrinsic to every mode and ultimately grounded in God/Nature itself, whereas potestas denotes the juridical and institutional authority that emerges from the organization of collective power within a political community. Antonio Negri and Gilles Deleuze, two of Spinoza’s most influential twentieth-century readers

Potestas: Spinoza's Notion of Political Power Spinoza’s concept of political power, or potestas, is developed primarily in the Theological-Political Treatise and the Political Treatise. In these works, he examines the nature of dominion, sovereignty, command, and the institutional structures through which political communities are governed. Unlike potentia, which refers to the immanent power of individuals and corresponds to what Spinoza, in the Political Treatise, identifies

Some Remarks on Spinoza's Concept of Potentia Spinoza’s Ethics is, at its core, a philosophy of power or potentia — the ontological and immanent power of being, acting, persevering, and affecting or being affected. Conceptually distinct from the juridical and institutional power (potestas) detailed in the Theological-Political Treatise and the Political Treatise, potentia signifies the causal power intrinsic to existence itself. Potentia or being-able-ness Potentia derives f