  But if the aim of the state is peace, and peace consists in the “harmony of minds” or the rational activity, one might wonder how it is that the state could hope to achieve its end in light of Spinoza’s skepticism concerning human rationality (1/5; 2/5; 6/1). How is it that the state can promote the civic virtue or “strength of mind” [fortitudo] on which peace depends (5/2, 5/3)? This is perhaps the central normative question of the TP (see Steinberg 2009; Steinberg 2018a). Spinoza addresses this question by way of offering institutional recommendations for each regime type.