Spinoza in cultural-historical psychology.

The article retraces the fate of Spinoza's ideas in cultural-historical psychology, from the late works of Lev Vygotsky to Evald Ilyenkov. Following Spinoza, Vygotsky considers affect to be the alpha and omega of all psychic development. The central problem both of Ethics and of Vygotsky's last manuscripts is the way to freedom by means of the rational mastering of affects. Vygotsky died before he could carry out his project of a "new psychology" based on Spinoza's idea of man. His students were not able to continue his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]