Imagination and Reason in Spinoza's Thought

In the second part of the Ethics we find a systematic exposition of the relation between imagination and reason within the framework of a sophisticated epistemology. Furthermore, this relation plays a crucial role in the 'ethical project' of the Ethics (in the third, fourth and fifth part). Spinoza's 'ethical project' aims at the gradual development of a new relation between imagination and reason, in which the imagination is brought under the guidance of reason. On the other hand, in the Theological-Political Treatise we find no systematic epistemological exposition of this relation. In this treatise the influence of reason is a hidden one: reason operates within and through imagination itself. Religious imagination can produce particular moral effects, which conform to reasonable behaviour, but the philosopher cannot fully explain this phenomenon. Therefore, the moral impact of religious imagination, as expressed in prophecy and faith, is not fully accessible for a philosophical investigation.