The Hermarchus–Spinoza Complex: Epicurean Politics and the “Naturalism vs. Constructivism” Opposition

The Epicurean theory of social formation has been preserved in Hermarchus’s account, a major figure of the early period of the School. The “Hermarchus-Spinoza complex” refers to the Epicurean articulation of a politics that is inherently incompatible with the contrast between naturalism and constructivism. The Epicurean approach manages to overcome this binary because of its conception of phronesis as performative. The Hermarchus-Spinoza complex both provides a historical depth to the undoing of the naturalism vs constructivism binary and describes performativity in instrumental terms, which challenges ingrained assumptions arising from the critique of instrumental reason.