“Ad captum vulgi”. The Meaning and Limits of a Spinozian Syntagm
Abstract
Spinoza's question of language is examined through the use of the syntagm Ad captum vulgi, a recurring theme in various passages of his works. The first rule of life set forth in the TdIE requires the philosopher, guided by prudence, to adapt language to the understanding of the common people, both for the practical benefits it can bring and to more easily dispose the common people, dominated by ignorance and passion, to listen to the truth. However, the common people are rigorously excluded from his written works, in which philosophy is explored and promoted with its own demonstrative language inspired by the mathematical model. In his written works in particular, the philosopher's interest is not in language, but in the "things" or doctrines to be communicated.
Submitted: June 24, 2026 | Published Sept. 17, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Revelation • Philosophy • Language • Common people • Prudence
Copyright © 2026 Filippo Mignini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Jolma/2723-9640/2026/01/002