BRUNO HENRIQUE DE SOUZA SOARES

Superstition articulates three problems that will be central to the fight that Spinoza carries out in his time, namely: the belief in finalism, the idea of transcendence and the will of God, and its corollary, free will. Spinoza's philosophy positions itself as a fight against servitude, and for this reason, the critique and fight against superstition plays a central role. This work seeks to understand the Logic of superstition, that is, to understand its way of functioning, its processes, its own logic of operation. To this end, a careful reading of the Appendix of De Deo in Ethics and the Preface to the Theological-Political Treatise is carried out, and thus demonstrates the structure [fabric] of superstition, its causes and effects. The path taken begins with the first chapter, The (unusual) concept of God, in which he seeks to reflect on the relationship between geometric order and superstition, as well as the centrality of Spinoza's subversion in the concept of God. The second chapter, The (cognitive) genesis of superstition, follows Appendix I line by line to determine how superstition originates and its relationship with prejudices, and in particular, finalist prejudice. The third chapter, The (affective) genesis of superstition, follows the Preface of the TTP and focuses on the desiring and affective dynamics that drive and sustain superstition, situating fear as the immoderate desire for uncertain goods. The fourth chapter, Superstition: a Fabrica, seeks to understand the operational dynamics of superstition and tries to think of it in its two modalities: the first, more prosaic and everyday, as a worldview, and the second, a direct result of the transformation of prejudices into theories, that is, as a doctrinal system. Ultimately, the aim is to understand the superstition fabrica in all its operativeness. Logica sive Fabrica.