A study on power relations in capitalism based on spinoza

The assumption that led to the emergence of this thesis is that Spinoza's ontology is a deep and holistic ontology that encompasses and includes other fields as well. In particular, what is presented as political has an ontological basis. This unity may point to the adaptability of Spinoza's philosophy to past or present political practices. Capitalism can also be analyzed and examined with Spinoza's political ontology. For this reason, only a Spinozist perspective has been accepted as the basis when discussing the nature and crises of capitalism. The thesis aims to understand the ontology of capitalism based on Spinoza. For this purpose, in the first part of the thesis, Spinoza's ontology is outlined and the main basis on which capitalism will be examined is tried to be shown. In this respect, it becomes clear that topics such as divine laws, freedom, free will, affections, conatus, and encounters are directly relevant to the second part of the thesis. In the second part of the thesis, the memory of capitalism is first mentioned. Labor processes in slavery, feudalism and capitalism are evaluated with a focus on power and domination. It is attempted to show that the distinct difference that distinguishes capitalism from other structures is the production and management of desire. From this point of view, it can be stated that 'money' has become an indispensable object of desire. The cycle of grief in the wage labor process is elucidated through Spinoza's theory of emotions. For this reason, it can be said that the power and domination in the relationship between the capitalist boss and the wage laborer can be understood by considering the 'conatus and emotions theory'. As a result of the analysis in the second part based on the first part, it is concluded that the main reason behind the replacement of dominant structures by each other is ontological; if the causes of the current crises are to be understood or to find solutions to the crises, it follows that a Spinozist method, that is, the nature of things must first be understood. It could be said that the contribution of a Spinozist analysis of capitalism is to try to show that the political has undeniable ontological foundations. In this thesis, it is arfued that the crisis of capitalism, which are claimed ta be only political or ethicalh , are particularly ontology based and that a solid and consistent analysis can be made from this perspective.