Among Spinoza's many philosophical aims and ambitions, none was closer to his heart than helping people to achieve freedom. Each of Spinoza's works on metaphysics, from his early commentary on Descartes' Principles to his eventual masterpiece, the Ethics, culminates in a discussion of freedom, insisting on its possibility and importance. In fact, the central aim of the Ethics is to show us “the way leading to freedom” (5pref). Spinoza's other main body of work, his political philosophy, is also motivated by his concern for freedom. Arguing that “the true purpose of the state is in fact freedom” (TTP 20, 6), Spinoza recommends how states should be structured and governed for the protection and promotion of freedom. The central thesis of the Theological-Political Treatise quotes Tacitus that the best state allows “every man to think as he pleases and say what he thinks” (TTP 20). Even Spinoza's notion of salvation is arguably directed at our freedom, for it arises from union with the eternal, divine nature and, thus, offers a kind of liberation from the power of external forces.

It is surprising, then, that Spinoza's view of freedom has received so little scholarly attention. Most work on Spinoza's philosophy only touches on the subject of freedom, reading him instead as concerned primarily with other goals, such as resolving problems in Cartesian metaphysics or addressing the harmful influence of religious authorities.