[P49 : Given an equal cause of Love, Love toward a thing will be greater if we imagine the thing to be free than if we imagine it to be necessary. And similarly for Hate.

Dem.: A thing we imagine to be free must be perceived through itself, without others (by ID7). So if we imagine it to be the cause of Joy or Sadness, we shall thereby love or hate it (by P13 S), and shall do so with the greatest Love or Hate that can arise from the given affect (by P48). But if we should imagine as necessary the thing that is the cause of this affect, then (by the same ID7) we shall imagine it to be the cause of the affect, not alone, but with others. And so (by P48) our Love or Hate toward it will be less, q.e.d.

Schol.: From this it follows that because men consider themselves to be free, they have a greater Love or Hate toward one another than toward other things. To this is added the imitation of the affects, on which see P27, P34, P40 and P43.