HOBBES’ POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Journal Title: Challenges of the Knowledge Society - Year 2013, Vol 3, Issue 0
Abstract
This is basically an attempt at an original conceptual reconstruction of Hobbes’ philosophy as set in Lehiathan, namely one in the view of which Hobbes was neither an atheist nor an absolutist, as the standard interpretation holds, but rather what we could call an agnostical pragmatist (fact which, quite surprisingly, places Hobbes in the company of Burke). More to the point, my basic claim within this paper is that Hobbes was not such an ‘enemy of individual freedom’ as we traditionally hold him to be and that his thought was just as attached to the notion of individual freedom as the later contractualist views. The difference however, arises from the fact that Hobbes, unlike Locke, Rousseau or Kant, was what we could call a voluntaristic determinist and consequently viewed human freedom not so much as ‘unhindered action derived from reflective choice’, but rather as what we could call ‘reasonable fulfillment of the basic human inclinations’ (self-interest). As such, I will analyze the three main focal points of Hobbes’ thought, namely (i) human nature, (ii) the principle of association and (iii) the principle of authority. More specifically I will try to offer a perspective on the link between his voluntaristic determinism, his notion of legitimate absolute coercion (sovereignity) and his political theology (the view that any form of political authority rests on a religious legitimacy) in trying to demonstrate how all these were Hobbes’ specific way of seeking to find individual freedom a place under the sun.
Authors and Affiliations
MHAI NOVAC
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP141904
- DOI -
- Views 138
- Downloads 0
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOW OF INFORMATION IN MILITARY ENVIRONMENT. NATO - NOW AND TOMORROW!
The strategy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is composed into a document known as „The strategic Concept for the defence of the North-Atlantic area“. The first concept was developed between October 1949...
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICT MEDIATION
At a time of global economic crisis followed by resource crisis, a period in which the world seeks alternative resources through eco-investment, environmental conflicts are inevitable. Romania is among the few countries...
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY RELATIONS AND POST-IMPERIAL ORDERS
This paper intends to investigate the relations between former imperial powers and new sovereign states succeeding an empire in the field of international security, particularly when involving the use of force. Despite...
THE ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN FRANCE
According to the Constitution promulgated on the 6th of October 1958, with the latest amendments made in 1999, France is a presidential republic. The three authority branches are broadly represented in the French adminis...
THE ASYLUM, BETWEEN HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE AND POLITICAL INSTRUMENT
At 9 November 2010, the European Court of Justice, in a preliminary ruling, decided to depart from the interpretation promoted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in the matter of the application of the...