Abstract

Reconstructing some points of the deduction made by Spinoza in Part III of Ethics, this article proposes to reflect on the affective logic and on two important notions in the context of inter-individual relations: on the one hand, the concept of similarity, more precisely, the notion of “something similar to us” and, on the other hand, the affective imitation. Our proposal is to consider how, if and to what extent the conjunction of these two elements – recognition of the similarity with the other and affective mimesis – acts or interferes in the inter-human affective arrangement and, thus, in the possibility of realizing and sustaining a common life.