Spinoza’s View of Man’s Freedom in Thinking

Spinoza defined man’s freedom in thinking at two levels: 1) once a man has reason, he has freedom; 2) man is born with the right to think and judge freely. This right is not transferable and a government that attempts to control its people ideologically is a tyrannical one. However, as there exist misunderstandings in academic circles, it is necessary to analyze Spinoza’s ideas on the relationship between freedom and necessity. On the other hand, Spinoza’s arguments on man’s freedom in speech need careful discrimination as they still contain some unclear points.