Order and disorder in intellectual history. Spinoza's case in the light of complexity.

This article presents the conception of order and disorder developed by the philosopher B. Spinoza (1632-1677), and shows how this theory supports the intelligibility of nature without attributing any kind of organization to nature. From these principles, the author questions the use of causality in intellectual history, and sketches the possibility of a complex history based upon the disorder of interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]